Flying Forward
by rugphan
Summary: A Danny Phantom/Rugrats/All Grown Up Crossover. When 5 year old Danny and Sam, along with toddlers Tommy and Chuckie play in a new toy airplane Jack Fenton and Stu Pickles made, they discover it's a time machine and end up 9 years ahead in the future! The 4th story in my Danny, Tommy, and Friends story series. Some DxS and TxR.
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: I do not own Danny Phantom or Rugrats/All Grown Up. Butch Hartman (DP) and Paul Germain (R/AGU) do. :D**

* * *

**_Chapter 1: A Time Machine to the Footure_**

**_ "I_** just don't gets it!" Tommy exclaimed, angrily. "Why would my Mommy and Daddy do this to me?"

Tommy Pickles and his playmate Danny Fenton were in the Pickles' backyard. A few minutes ago Tommy had come storming out of his house, and told Danny about a problem he was having. That just wasn't like Tommy. He was pretty angry.

Danny smiled. "Calm down, Tommy! It's not the end of the world!"

"I knows thats!" Tommy cried. "I'm just mad. My Mommy and Daddy taketed away my binky from me!"

Danny shrugged. "No offense or anything Tommy," he started, "but you were gonna have to get rid of that pacifier sooner or later. The dentist said your first tooth has come in all the way, and I think I heard your dad say to your mom that they were gonna have to get rid of it soon. Besides," Danny added, "your mom said that you're going to get a big surprise later."

Tommy perked up a bit. "Really?" he asked, excitedly. "What is it?"

Danny shrugged once again. "I don't know. She wouldn't tell me."

Tommy plopped onto the ground, crossed his arms, and furrowed his eyebrows. "Well, I wants my binky back!" he stated, angrily.

Just as Tommy said that, the sliding glass door opened. Danny's friend Sam Manson and Tommy's friend Chuckie Finster had just arrived. He was carrying a black, round-like object in his hands.

"Hi'ya, Tommy!" Chuckie exclaimed. "Hi'ya, Danny!"

"Hi there, Chuck!" Danny greeted. "Hey, Sam!"

"Hi, guys! What's up?" Sam asked.

Danny laughed, while watching his playmate's angry expression. "Tommy's mad because his mom and dad just took his pacifier away from him."

Chuckie frowned, and turned to face his best friend. "Oh. It's the firstest day without your binky, Tommy?" he asked, quickly patting him on the back. "I knows what it's like. Mine gots taketed away from me awhile agos too."

Tommy glanced up at his pal. "Did you ever gets it back?"

"Nope." Chuckie said, apologetically. He suddenly grinned. "But I'll shows you what I gots last nights at a store! It might cheer you up!" He showed Tommy the black round thing he had brought with him.

"Wow, Chuckie!" Tommy exclaimed. "That's really neat!" He paused, then asked, "What is it?"

Chuckie grinned even wider. "It's a magic ball! You ask it a yes or no question and shakes it, and it tells your footure!"

Sam smiled. "That _is_ neat! Can I try it?"

"Sure!" Chuckie handed the magic ball over to Sam. "Remember to ask it a yes or no question!"

Sam nodded. "Okay." She thought for a moment. "I know! Tommy's mom has been sick for three days. Will she get better in two days or less?" She shook the ball as hard as she could.

"Well, Sam," Danny started, "what does it say?"

"It says," Sam said glancing down at the ball, "Most definitely."

"What does that mean?" Tommy asked, puzzled.

"It means your mom is gonna get better soon." Danny replied. "How is she doing anyway?"

"I thinks she's getting betterer. She hasn't been throwing up as much today as she did yesterday. She went to the doctor earlier, though." Tommy added.

"What did they say?"

Tommy shrugged. "I don't know. My Daddy didn't tells me."

"Oh!" Chuckie cried, interrupting Danny and Tommy's conversation. "Oh! I gots a really good question for my magic ball!"

"Go ahead!" Sam exclaimed. "I'll shake it for you."

"Okay. Um, will me and Tommy be bestest friends when we start our firstest day of school?"

Tommy grinned at his friend. "That _is_ a great question, Chuckie!"

Sam shook the ball, glanced at it, then said, "Yes."

"That's great!" Tommy exclaimed. "How about, will me and Chuckie be bestest friends on our lastest years of the elephantary school?"

Sam shook the ball again. "Maybe."

"Okay. How about the medium school?"

"Not likely." Sam read.

Both Tommy and Chuckie were getting nervous now.

"How about the really big school?" Chuckie asked. "Are we gonna be friends theres?"

Sam shook the ball with all her might this time. She looked at the ball and sighed sadly. "No."

Chuckie, Danny, and Tommy gasped.

"I-I don't gets it!" Tommy exclaimed. "What could ever make us be mad at each other, Chuckie? We're bestest friends!"

Chuckie was just as shocked as Tommy was. "I don't know, Tommy!"

Danny grabbed the magic ball out of Sam's hands. "There's gotta be some way to reverse this thing!" he cried. "Maybe if I tried asking it a similar question to the ones Tommy and Chuck were asking!" He thought for a moment, then asked, "Will Tommy and Chuck be friends for all of eternity?" Danny started to shake the ball, and looked at it. "Darn it!"

He paused for a moment, and asked, "Will Tommy and Chuck be friends when they're eighty years old?" He shook the ball again. "Aw, man!"

Danny shook the ball for another five minutes, but the same sad answer kept popping up in front of him. "No! No! No! No! No!"

Finally, Sam got annoyed enough that she took the ball out of Danny's hands. "Okay, Danny!" she cried. "We see your point already! Sadly, Tommy and Chuckie aren't going to be friends forever. You don't need to rub it in their faces!"

Danny frowned, and shrugged apologetically. "Sorry you guys. I guess I just got carried away."

Tommy nodded. "It's okay, Danny. I knows you was only trying your bestest."

"I guess it just wasn't enough." Chuckie replied, gloomily.

Suddenly, Tommy Pickles' dad Stu Pickles, and Danny's dad Jack Fenton came out. They both had eager, excited expressions on their faces.

"Hey, there, kids!" Stu exclaimed. "Come here for a second!"

The four friends slowly got up and walked glumly into the Pickles' house. They still couldn't believe that Tommy and Chuckie weren't going to be best friends when they were older. They didn't even think it was possible! But, what they saw when they entered the living room made Chuckie, Danny, Tommy, and Sam forget all about it.

"Whoa!" they gasped.

In the middle of the room was an airplane big enough to fit four babies or four little kids. It was a made of metal, and had huge wings that extended out about four or five feet. The babies were amazed by it.

"Awesome plane!" Danny exclaimed. "How did you guys make it?"

Danny and Tommy's dads were inventors. Tommy's dad made toys, while Danny's dad made many useful types of equipment for television shows and for real life issues, like ghost equipment. But apparently, this time, the two of them decided to make something together.

Jack smiled at his son. "We just made it out of a few extra parts lying around the house." he replied.

Stu grinned at the kids. "What are you waiting for? Hop in!"

The babies ran up to the airplane eagerly. Danny sat at the wheel, while Tommy sat in the passenger seat. Chuckie and Sam sat in the back.

From the inside, it looked just like a real airplane. There were dials, switches, and buttons everywhere. Some of them even made sound effects!

"This is really cool, Mr. Fenton!" Sam exclaimed.

"Same here, Mr. Pickles!" Danny exclaimed. "Thanks!"

Jack and Stu nodded proudly.

"Well," Stu started, "I'd better go check to see how Didi's doing."

"And I'd better go get some parts for our next invention." Jack replied. He turned to face Danny. "Are you fine hanging around here for awhile, son?"

Danny smiled at him. "Yeah, Dad. I'll see you later!"

Jack and Stu grinned at them.

"You kids have fun!" Stu exclaimed. He and Jack then left the room.

Once they heard Jack's vehicle starting, and Stu's footsteps become silent as they went up the stairs, Tommy spoke. "Wow! This plane's really neat!"

His friends nodded in agreement.

Chuckie grinned with relief when he saw a little round slant on the dashboard. "Look! There's even a spot to puts my magic ball!" He sighed. "That's good, too. This thing was getting heavy!" He leaned over to put his magic ball onto the slant. It fit perfectly!

Chuckie leaned back in his seat with his hands behind his head. "That's betterer!"

Danny smiled at his friend. "Cool! Now we can-," he paused. He thought he had heard a small ping somewhere. "Did you guys here that?"

"Here what, Danny?" Sam asked.

"I thought I heard something!" Danny glanced outside the toy plane. "I hope a screw didn't go loose!"

"Don't worry, Danny!" Chuckie exclaimed. "We'll helps you look!"

They searched everywhere. In the airplane, out of the airplane, on the wings, on the hard metal floor of the plane, even underneath it! But no matter where they looked, the babies just couldn't seem to find the missing screw. But they did find something else.

"Hey, you guys!" Tommy exclaimed, hopping into the plane's passenger's seat once again. "What's this?"

Chuckie and Sam climbed back into the back seats of the plane, while Danny slipped into the pilot's seat again. "What is it, Tommy?"

Tommy pointed to the dashboard. "A little card thingy is sticking out of theres!"

Danny glanced to where his playmate was pointing. He was right. There was a little white card sticking out of the dashboard. 'Funny.' Danny thought. 'I don't think that little card slot was there before.'

He thought some more, smiled, and pulled the little card out of the slot. After all, Danny had probably just missed the card slot when he was playing with the all of the switches and buttons inside the plane. He slowly read it to himself. Danny didn't quite get the message, so he read it a few more times to try and understand its meaning. Nothing came to him.

"Well, Danny, what does it say?" Sam asked.

Danny glanced back at the little card in his hands. He read it loud and clear enough so his friends could hear.

Your journey begins here.

As we are flying forward,

you will discover new adventures

and new experiences

that you have never experienced before.

You will soon not remember

the following numbers that are being given to you.

9-9-4

Be wise about what you're about to face.

You only get one chance to fix your wrongs,

and make them right.

Your journey ends when you hear the word,

"Goodnight!"

Good luck!

"What's that supposed to mean?" Sam asked, puzzled.

Danny shrugged. "Beats me."

Tommy was replaying message over and over in his mind. Suddenly he grinned. "I gets it!" he exclaimed.

Chuckie glanced at his best friend. "Gets what, Tommy?"

Tommy grinned even wider. "Don't you sees?" he asked, excitedly. "It's a game! Those numbers on the cards looks eggzactly like the ones on those rows of switches!"

Danny figured out what Tommy was getting at. "Your right!" he said, smiling. "So all we have to do is flick the number nine switch on the first row…"

He flicked the nine switch upward.

"Then the same number on the second row…"

He flicked up the nine switch on the second row.

"Now, we just have to flick the number four switch, and…"

Danny flicked the number four switch forward, and the airplane's engine started revving up!

"Um, Danny," Chuckie started, nervously, "is the arrowplane apposed to be doing this?"

Danny was gripping onto the steering wheel as Chuckie spoke. "I don't know!" he exclaimed, fearfully. "But somehow I don't think so!"

Suddenly, out of nowhere, a green, swirling vortex appeared in front of them. Then the airplane started moving on its own!

The four friends screamed with fear.

"Danny, stop steering!" Sam cried. "Now!"

Danny glanced at her in panic. "I'm not doing anything!" He started pounding the dashboard with his fists. That did nothing except hurt his hands. "Ow!"

Danny then started flipping switches (including the ones he had already flicked up) and buttons like crazy. But nothing was working! "Come on!" he cried. "Come on! I said, come on you stupid thing! Please!"

But it was too late to do anything now. The babies screamed once again before entering the swirling, green vortex.


	2. Chapter 2

**_Chapter 2: The Last Days of Summer_**

**_"T_**ommy," Chuckie said, irritably, "will you please turn the light off on that thing?"

Eleven-year-old Chuckie Finster, ten-year-old Tommy Pickles, and fourteen-year-old Danny Fenton were at the orthodontist. Chuckie's dad had told him he needed to get his teeth fixed. So, Chas Finster made an appointment for him at Dr. Major's orthodontist, and sure enough, Chuckie needed braces. Chuckie wasn't all that happy about having metal wires and brackets all over his teeth. So, Danny and Tommy were there to support him.

"Sorry, Chuck!" Tommy exclaimed, still holding his video camera to his left eye. "I can't turn it off without turning off the camera! Besides, it gives you such good lighting on your teeth! I can see your smile from all angles!"

Chuckie sat up, and glared at his best friend. "Not funny!"

Danny chuckled. "Don't worry, Chuck!" he said, trying to cheer him up. "It's only going to be for two point five years until they come off! Besides, you'll get rid of those buck teeth you've been wanting to get rid of for years!"

Chuckie nodded. "I guess so." he replied. "But I didn't want to get rid of them by moving my teeth into place with wires!"

"Well, there's no other way to move them, so deal with it!"

Just as he finished that sentence, Danny's cell phone started to ring. It was playing the "Dumpty Humpty " opening song. He answered it. "Hello?"

"Hey, Danny! Dude, has Chuck gotten his braces on yet?"

"No, Phil." Danny laughed. "He hasn't yet. But if you ever want to see Chuckie's buck teeth again, you'd better get here before they're gone!"

"Okay! I'll be there in five minutes!"

Danny hung up and glanced at Chuckie. "See? Even Phil is coming over to support you!"

Chuckie glared at his sneakers. "Why is everyone so interested in my teeth all of a sudden?" he asked.

"Because it's a precious childhood memory." Tommy joked. "Why do you think I brought my video camera with me?"

A minute later, Dr. Major walked up to the three boys. "Are you ready, Chuckie?" he asked, slipping a pair of rubber gloves on.

"It's Chuck." Chuckie corrected the orthodontist. "And no. We've got to wait for Phil. He'll be here in a few minutes."

About three minutes later, Phil entered the orthodontist's office. Once he explained to the lady behind the desk he was a friend of Chuckie's, he entered the back of the orthodontist where his friends were.

"Hey, guys!" Phil exclaimed.

"Hey, Phil!" his friends greeted him.

Dr. Major grinned at Chuckie. "Are you ready now, Chuck?"

"Not really." Chuckie mumbled to himself.

* * *

**_W_**hile heading out of the orthodontist, Chuckie was groaning. "Thanks for coming to support me you guys." He winced. "Sorry. My teeth are already sore. Does anybody know when they're supposed to stop hurting?"

Tommy grinned at his friend. "Dr. Major said they should stop hurting within three or four days."

Chuckie sighed. "I already hate these things."

As the four boys were getting closer to Tommy's house, Sam and Lil ran into them.

"Oh my gosh you guys!" Sam exclaimed. "Guess, what!"

Phil grinned. "Hello to you too!" he greeted.

Sam smiled and shook her head. "Sorry." she replied. "I guess I got a little carried away."

"What's up?" Danny asked.

"My little cousin just called."

Tommy raised an eyebrow at her. "Doesn't she call you almost every week?" he asked, wondering what the big deal was.

"Well, yeah." Sam admitted. "But this is really important."

Danny's face suddenly became fearful. "Is everything okay?" he asked, anxiously.

"Everything's more than okay! Her mom's pregnant!"

"That's great!"

"I know!" Sam exclaimed, then added, "There's more news!"

"What is it?" Tommy asked.

"She's moving here! In your guys town! My Aunt figured that the baby should be born in a safer environment than where she lives right now. So I figured, why not here?"

Phil nodded, and observed his neighborhood for a moment. "I find this place very safe." he replied. He paused then asked, "Hey, why not AmityPark?"

Lil stared at her twin brother with surprise. "Have you've even been to Danny or Tucker's house lately?" She didn't let Phil answer. "There's all sorts of ghostly activity going on around there lately. The last time I went to Sam's house, I almost got my backpack nabbed!"

Sam nodded. "Somebody's really got to clean that place up."

Tommy glanced at Danny. "Why not your parents? They're ghost hunters!"

It was Danny's turn to stare at Tommy. "Are you kidding me, Tommy? The _last_ time my parents tried to catch a ghost, my Dad fell into the sewer hole!"

"Ewww!" Lil and Sam cried in disgust.

Danny nodded. "I know." He shook his head. "Where's Batman and Superman when you need them?"

"In the comic books." Tommy replied. "Oh, by the way, that reminds me! I entered another film contest, and I want you guys to be in my next film!" He paused and glanced down at his watch. "Could you guys get Angelica, Kimi, Susie, Jazz, Harold, and Tucker over at my house by three o' clock this afternoon?"

His friends nodded.

"Great! I'll explain what we're going for this time when we get everyone at my house!"

Danny grinned at his playmate. Ever since he could remember, Tommy had always been into filmmaking. When he was three years old, Tommy had picked up his Dad's camera and started filming, _Creature From the Backyard_, starring his dog, Spike. That was Tommy's very first film. He had already made over twenty-five films in the past seven years, and had won quite a few rewards for his videos.

"What's the next movie about, Tommy?" Danny asked.

Tommy grinned and said in an eerie voice, "_When Fifth Graders Attack_!"

"Now, _that's_ something I could get into!" Phil exclaimed, giving his pal a high five. "Way to go, T!"

Lil rolled her eyes at her brother. "What's it about, Tommy?"

Tommy smiled once again. "It's about high school kids picking on a bunch of fifth graders." he replied. "That's where Danny, Sam, Tucker, and Jazz come in. Then the fifth graders, which are Kimi, Lil, Phil, Dil, and Chuckie turn into a bunch of aliens when they get sucked up into an alien spaceship. Then, when they return to Earth, the fifth graders seek revenge on the high schoolers who gave them all of that grief just because they were younger than them."

Sam grinned. "Who are the aliens?"

"Angelica, Susie, and Harold."

"Angelica!" Sam exclaimed, excitedly. "Boy, I'm liking this movie already! I can't wait to get started!"

Suddenly, a huge beeping noise hit their eardrums. The five friends turned to glance at Phil, who was staring at his watch with an eager expression on his face. "Sorry, for the sudden interruption you guys," he started, quickly, "but I've got to go." He started running down the street behind him.

"Wait!" Lil cried. "Where are you going?"

"Soccer tryouts!" Phil called back to his twin sister.

Lil groaned. "I'd better follow him." she mumbled, running after her brother.

"Hey," Sam cried, "wait up! I'll come with you!" She turned to face the rest of the boys. "See you guys later!"

Sam then ran after the twins down the street.

Chuckie, Danny, and Tommy stood there in silence for a moment.

"So," Tommy started, "are you guys up for seeing a bit of soccer action?"

* * *

**_ W_**hile waiting for the soccer tryouts to come out and practice, the six friends found a spot in the middle of Emerson's Elementary School bleachers. They all agreed that it would be a perfect spot for seeing all of the action from a clear view. That, and Tommy would be able to focus his camera lens better from that spot also.

"Hey, Tommy," Danny said, grinning. "Did you happen to notice that Chuck hasn't talked in over half an hour?"

Tommy smiled. "Yeah!" he said, turning to his best friend. "Hey, Chuck, we're at the soccer tryouts! Smile and have fun! Phil supported you when you got those braces on. Now, it's time for you to cheer him on!"

Chuckie groaned. "Try telling that to my teeth!" he cried. "I want to cheer Phil on, but how am I supposed to do that when my teeth are getting sorer and sorer by the minute?"

Sam glanced at Chuckie with grin on her face. "That's right!" she exclaimed. "You got your braces on today, didn't you Chuck?"

Chuckie hesitated, then slowly nodded.

"Well, don't just stand there!" Lil cried. "Let us see them!"

Chuckie sighed, and gave the girls a quick smile.

Sam gave him a reassuring grin. "They don't look all that bad." she replied. "I can't see any reason for not liking them."

"Yes." Danny replied. "I suppose the pain in his teeth is _really_ enjoyable."

Sam laughed.

Danny grinned.

The rest of them -including Chuckie- just smirked.

Suddenly, "Hey, you guys! Here come the soccer players!"

The five friends glanced to where Lil was pointing. Sure enough, the soccer players were running out with excitement. One of those screaming players was Phil.

"Come on, Phil!" Lil cried. "You can do it!"

Phil glanced around, until he saw his sister and his friends up on the bleachers. He grinned, happy that his friends were there to cheer him on. Phil quickly waved and ran to where the other soccer tryouts were huddling.

Betty Deville, Phil and Lil's mom, was the coach of the soccer team, so she was the one who would get to decide who the new players were that year.

"Alright, kids!" Betty exclaimed. "You'll be running this course three times individually. I'll be keeping track of what you do on this clipboard. Line up near the bleachers. When I blow my whistle, you start!"

All of the soccer players ran toward the bleachers.

All of the kids who did the obstacle course did pretty well. Danny and Tommy glanced at each other anxiously. They knew they were thinking the same thing. What if Phil didn't do as good as they had hoped?

They decided not to think about it. Tommy quickly turned on his video camera.

Soon, it was Phil's turn. From what his friends could see, he looked pretty tense out on the field.

"We have to do something before the whistle blows!" Lil started to panic. "When Phil gets nervous, he doesn't even move!"

They all looked nervous. They didn't know what to do.

That's when Tommy decided to risk it. He stood up. "Come on, Phil! You can do it! Let's see what you can do!"

A moment later Danny joined in. "Come on Phil! Kick that ball out of the field!"

Soon, Lil was joining in.

Then Sam.

Even Chuckie started chanting.

Soon, Phil was smiling. He wasn't so afraid anymore.

Betty Deville blew the whistle. Phil started running. Other than missing one goal, and stumbling on two cones he did exceptionally well. His friends were absolutely sure he was going to make the team.

Phil finished his third and final round with a goal. Everyone cheered.

Betty smiled at the soccer players. "Alright, kids," she replied. "The members of the new team will be posted up in EmersonElementary School on Wednesday. Now, run along and have a fun last few days of summer!"

Phil ran as fast as he could up the bleachers to greet his friends. "Thanks for the help!" he exclaimed, hugging his sister. "If you guys hadn't started cheering for me, I would've frozen up!"

Lil laughed. "No problem, Phil!"

Danny frowned. "Sorry for interrupting the fun celebrating moment, but did Mrs. Deville say we only have a few days left of summer?"

The six friends glanced at each other tensely. They really didn't want this day to come. After all, Chuckie's teeth were sore and he was afraid people would make fun of his braces, Phil probably just made the soccer team and wanted to practice some more, and Danny, Sam, and Tucker were going to Casper High School for the first time ever! What if everyone was way too busy to hang out throughout the school year?

But Tommy didn't think of it that way. "Come, on you guys!" he exclaimed. "So we've only got a few days left of summer before school starts again! This is a time to celebrate, not sit around and moan about it!" He paused, then continued. "We can skip working on the movie for the next few days. We've got three months before it has to be finished. And we only got three days left of summer! What should we do to guarantee we had a great summer?"

His friends paused to think a moment. Tommy was right. They should spend their last day of summer in the most fun way possible.

A few minutes passed before Lil snapped her fingers. "You guys," she said, smiling, "I think I've got an idea!"

* * *

**_ "T_**hen," Phil continued, holding his flashlight up to his face, "the girl in the house turned around. But still, nothing. She could've sworn she heard footsteps behind her."

Danny slowly clutched his legs with both hands. To celebrate their last day of summer, Lil decided for them to have a sleepover. The boys were sleeping in a tent just outside the Pickles' home. The girls were next door at Phil and Lil's house.

Right now, the boys were telling scary stories. Danny didn't know what the girls were doing next door, but whatever they were doing, he assumed it was better than this.

Tommy glanced at his friend, and smiled. "Cheer up, Danny!" he whispered. "It's only a scary ghost story! There's nothing to worry about!"

Danny glared at his playmate.

"Oh, right." Tommy replied. "Sorry."

Danny sighed. "It's alright, Tommy. I'm just a little nervous."

"Don't worry about it."

"Don't worry about it? In case you haven't noticed T, I'm starting High School _tomorrow_! Plus, with all of the ghostly activity going on lately, I'm afraid something is going to go terribly wrong!"

Tommy grinned, closed his eyes, and shook his head. "Danny, Casper High should be your only worry. The ghost activity is up to the police, the FBI, the bomb squad, and all of the ghost hunters except for your mom and dad. Besides," he added, "what could possibly go wrong?"

Danny smiled. After all, Tommy was right. This was their last day of summer. He should be having fun. Not worrying about what was going to happen in the future. Danny grabbed a bag of potato chips, opened it, and started eating.

Once Phil finished his story, he gave them all a sly smile and said, "If you guys thought that was scary, wait until you see what we're going to do next." He quickly unzipped the red sport's bag he had brought with him, rummaged through it, and pulled out a walkie-talkie. "What do you say we see what the girls are up to?"

Tommy grinned. "Dude, you didn't!"

Phil nodded. "I taped the other walkie-talkie underneath the coffee table in our living room and taped the button in. Now, I can finally find out if Lil took my bubble soap when I was seven!"

Danny quickly caught on. "No way!" he exclaimed. "I am _not_ going to spy on the girls!"

Phil grinned even wider. "It's not spying, Danny! It's-,"

"Listening to their personal conversations? Eavesdropping? Snooping? An invasion of privacy?"

Tucker who had also come to the sleepover, grinned. "You worry too much, D!" He turned to Phil. "I'm totally in!"

Tommy nodded. "I guess I can find out a little bit more about what girls do during sleepovers besides reading magazines and doing nails. What about you Chuck?"

Chuckie hesitated, then shook his head. "I'm going to have to agree with Danny on this one you guys. There's probably some things a guy shouldn't know about in life. Besides," he added, "I don't want to get into trouble."

"Suit yourself." Phil said, shrugging and turning on his walkie-talkie.

The girls' conversation came in loud and clear.

* * *

**_ "I_** still don't see what's so great about the Sulky Boys." Sam replied. "I just think they're some dumb boy band that's hypnotizing guys into mindless idiots, and girls into drooling over them." She paused. "No offence or anything."

Lil smiled. "That's fine. Everyone's entitled to their own opinion. Will you pass me the popcorn, Kimi?"

Chuckie's younger stepsister grinned and quickly passed the bowl to Lil. "Okay," she sighed, "now that we're all filled up with popcorn, what should we do?"

"Yeah." Angelica replied, stubbornly. "I'm sure the boys are having more fun than us."

* * *

**_"B_**oy, are we ever!" Tucker exclaimed.

* * *

**_ "H_**ow about a game of truth or dare?" Susie suggested.

Sam hesitated, then slowly nodded. "Okay. That sounds reasonable."

"Are there any rules to the game?" Lil asked.

Susie was silent for a moment, then she nodded. "Yes. Rule number one, we all go around in a circle clockwise. Rule number two, we can ask anyone a question as long as we don't do any dares that are really dumb and risky. Number three," she continued, "to make this game more interesting, you _can't_ change for example from a dare to a truth once the question is asked. But, you can say pass if you don't want to do it. So, are those rules good enough?"

Kimi grinned. "I'm in!" Then she added, "This should be interesting."

"I'll go first!" Susie exclaimed. "Lil, truth or dare?"

Lil thought for a second, then said, "Truth!"

"Okay. Did you take Phil's bubble soap back in the first grade?"

"Yes." Lil said without hesitation. "I keep telling Phil I didn't take it just for laughs."

* * *

**_ "I _**knew it!" Phil cried.

* * *

**_ "A_**ngelica," Kimi asked, "truth or dare?"

Angelica paused for a moment, then said, "Dare."

"I dare you to…go into the bathroom and make a toilet paper necklace that says, I love ponies and unicorns on it. Oh, and you have to wear it for the rest of the evening."

* * *

**_ T_**he four boys burst out laughing.

"What is it?" Chuckie asked, curious. A moment ago he and Danny were playing a game of war with a deck of cards.

"Your sister just dared Angelica to do something great!"

Chuckie grinned, and crawled over to where his friends were. "What? What did Kimi do to her? I've got to hear this!" he exclaimed.

Danny sighed. After all, how was he going to play a game of cards without another person? More importantly, how was he going to get distracted enough to not overhear the conversation? Danny glanced down at a Spiderman comic book on Phil's sleeping bag. He shrugged, picked it up, turned on his flashlight, and started reading.

* * *

**_ A_**ngelica practically spit out her lemonade. "You're kidding, right?" She turned to Susie. "Isn't this a dumb dare? It's against the rules!"

Susie laughed. "It isn't dumb. It's funny! Now, march down to the bathroom, you pony lover, you!" she joked.

Angelica growled, and stomped down to the bathroom.

Lil grinned. "While we're waiting for Angelica, Sam, truth or dare?"

Sam, who was holding back her laughter took a deep breath and said, "Truth."

* * *

**_ D_**anny was into the Spiderman comic book by the third page. He had never actually sat down and read those types of comic books before. And the funny part was, it was the first issue. Danny read all the way through where Peter Parker got a spider bite, and got spider powers.

He decided to flip through the pages. They were so colorful, and they looked creepily real for drawn characters and scenery. As Danny was flipping through the amazingly cool pictures, there was a sentence that caught his eye. It said:

_** "With great power comes great responsibility."**_

Danny thought about that for a moment. He wasn't so sure if that was true or not. And he was glad that he would never find out. But one thing was for sure, that one sentence kept him distracted.

"Okay, Sam." Danny absentmindedly heard Lil say. "Do you like Danny?"

The five boys who were listening, eyes widened with surprise. They glanced at Danny with smirks on their faces. Danny's eyes had widened as well. That got his attention.

* * *

**_"W_**hat do you mean by that?" Sam asked, nervously.

"What do mean, what do I mean?" Lil asked, smirking. "I mean, do you like him more than friends?"

Sam put her right hand behind her head. "Um, well…"

* * *

**_T_**he guys leaned in closer toward the walkie-talkie. They all had to hear the answer. Especially Danny. After all, he was a bit curious to hear what Sam had to say.

Suddenly, a small beeping noise came out of the walkie-talkie.

"Oh, no!" Phil cried, smacking the walkie-talkie with his right hand. "Don't die you stupid thing! We need to hear the answer!"

The walkie-talkie started to become static. Phil started smacking it harder. Finally, one large static came out, and then the walkie-talkie died.

* * *

**_ "Y_**ou see," Sam continued, "I'm sort of seeing someone else right now."

The girls' eyes widened. After all, that was really unexpected.

"And you didn't tell me?" Lil cried, excitedly. "Who is it?"

Sam sighed happily, then said, "His name is Gregor. I met him after the soccer tryouts. He's a vegetarian, he likes helping the environment, plus he's a goth!"

Susie grinned. "He sounds a lot like you." she replied.

Sam nodded. "I know, right?"

"Are you going to ask him out?" Kimi asked.

Sam sighed deeply, lie down on her sleeping bag, and said, "I don't know. After all, school starts tomorrow, I'll probably have a lot of homework, and," she paused then said, "I'm kind of nervous about asking him out."

Lil's eyes widened even more. "You? Sam Manson's nervous about asking a guy out?" She turned to Susie and Kimi. "And I thought the first news was shocking."

Sam quickly sat up. "Of course you're shocked, Lil. You were granted with some girlish charm that has guys asking you out all of the time."

Lil grinned. "Thanks, Sam!"

"What if he doesn't like me anyway?"

"You'll never know unless you ask him."

"What if he says no?" Sam paused then said, "In case you haven't noticed, I'm not very good at expressing my personal feelings."

"Really." Kimi said, rolling her eyes. "I hadn't noticed."

Sam glanced at her suspiciously. "What's that supposed to mean, Kimi?"

Kimi smirked. "Remember, the Valentines Day incident?"

"Danny and I were five! We were locked in a closet by you guys! We-," Sam paused. "Wait a minute! How do you know about the Valentines Day incident? You didn't live here then!"

Lil smiled nervously and shrugged. "It came up in a conversation we had once." she explained.

"Still," Susie interrupted, "either way Sam, we're happy for you!"

Sam grinned. "Thanks, Susie!"

That's when Angelica walked into the room with her toilet paper necklace around her neck. The girls' burst out laughing.

"Yeah, yeah." Angelica mumbled. "Laugh all you want." She sat down on her sleeping bag. "So, what did I miss?"

* * *

**_ T_**he guys, both tired and disappointed that they didn't get to listen to the rest of the conversation, decided to go to sleep.

Once everyone was asleep, Danny said to Tommy, "It's too bad we didn't get to hear the rest of the conversation."

"Why?" Tommy asked, looking at his playmate slyly. "Because you like Sam or something?"

"No!" Danny said quickly. Maybe a little too quickly.

"Yes you do."

"No I don't! Not like that anyway."

Tommy grinned. "I know you like her, Danny." Then he frowned, and said seriously, "You know, if you don't make your move soon, she's going to fall in love with someone else."

Danny chuckled. "That's _not_ going to happen, Tommy."

"Oh, so you _are_ interested in Sam."

"I didn't say that."

Tommy laughed softly. "Sorry, D. I'm just getting that vibe." He turned on his right side, away from his friend, and closed his eyes.

"Whatever, T." Danny replied. He lie flat on his back, and soon fell asleep.


	3. Chapter 3

**_Chapter 3: The First Day of School_**

**_ "P_**HIL!" Lil yelled. "GET OUT HERE NOW!"

Phil, who had stopped by his house that morning to grab his backpack from his room, came dashing down the stairs. "Whatever it is, I didn't do it!" he said, quickly.

Lil was holding up the walkie-talkie that was hiding under the coffee table just seconds earlier. Fortunately, the other girls were outside waiting for her.

"I was cleaning up some of the popcorn that we dropped last night, and found this taped to the coffee table." Lil said, angrily.

Phil grinned. "My walkie-talkie!" he cried out, pretending to be surprised. "How did that get there?"

Unfortunately, as Phil figured, Lil wasn't buying it. "Start explaining." she said madly, shoving the walkie-talkie into his hands. "Now!"

Phil sighed. Sometimes he wished his twin sister wasn't so smart. "We just wanted to have a little fun! We were bored!"

"Just how much did you hear?"

"Just the truth or dare game."

Lil looked her brother in the eye suspiciously. "You promise?"

Phil nodded truthfully.

"Okay." Lil sighed. "Just don't do it again!" She suddenly smiled. "So, did you happen to hear Sam's question when you were snooping on us?"

Phil sighed. "Most of it. But when we were going to hear Sam's answer the walkie-talkie died." He smiled slyly. "So, what _did_ she say?"

Lil lightly punched her twin brother on the shoulder. "I'm not telling you!"

"Aw, come on!" Phil groaned. "Why not?"

"Number one," Lil stated, holding up one finger, "it's Sam's business. Number two," she added holding up another finger, "if I told you, you would go running to Danny and tell him. Number three," she said, holding up a third finger, and grinning slyly, "this is your payback for spying on us."

"It wasn't spying! It was-,"

"Listening to our personal conversations? Eavesdropping? Snooping? An invasion of privacy?"

Phil stared at his sister with a strange expression on his face. "Okay, I _know_ I've heard that somewhere before!"

Lil sighed. "Well, we'd better get to school. You've got everything?"

"Yep."

"Then let's go. Everyone's waiting for us."

Phil tossed the walkie-talkie on the couch, and the twins headed for the door.

* * *

**_ C_**huckie gripped his backpack straps nervously. Here he was on the bus, pulling in front of Emerson Elementary School. To make it more specific, it was his very _last_ year at this school. Chuckie Finster had finally made it to the sixth grade. He was proud of himself. There was only one problem, though. He couldn't show it.

"This is it, Chuck." Tommy was saying, as he stepped off of the bus with his best friend. "Your very last year of elementary school. Are you ready for this? You've been looking forward to it all summer!"

Chuckie hesitated, then slowly shook his head. "Not really, Tommy." he admitted. "That was before I got my braces. I mean, what if someone sees them and makes fun of me?"

Tommy smiled as they walked toward the front of Emerson Elementary. "What's there to worry about?" he asked. "A lot of kids get braces. I'm sure you're not the only one who's gotten them during the summer! Now, smile and be proud!"

Chuckie nodded. "You're right, Tommy! I've got to show my smile to the world and not be ashamed of it!"

"That's the spirit!"

Chuckie walked toward the building with Tommy, smiling about his accomplishment and showing off his new braces.

Once they reached the hallway, a voice yelled, "Hey, Finster! Or should I say, metal mouth! Move it! You're blinding me with your teeth!"

Tommy and Chuckie turned to see a boy with short brown hair smirking at him. He was about Chuckie's height. The boy wore a red T-shirt, dark blue jeans, and brown sandals. He had a triangular nose, blue eyes, slightly crooked teeth, and was also wearing a red cap backwards on his head. He looked about eleven years old. He was standing with three of his friends.

Chuckie felt hurt. He stopped smiling, and quickly looked down at the floor.

Noticing this, Tommy walked up to the boy. "Back off, Josh. What did he ever do to you?"

Josh smirked. "So, Pickles, you're bossing me around. I see how it is." He and his friends laughed. Then Josh leaned into his face. "What are you going to do about it?"

"Report you to the principal for unnecessary bullying if I have to." Tommy replied without hesitation.

"Go ahead. I've already been there a million times. It doesn't bother me or my pals. Right you guys?"

Josh's friends nodded.

After trying to think of a good comeback, Tommy sighed. "Fine." he admitted. "I give up." He turned around, walking slowly toward Chuckie. Unable to resist that smirk that Josh was giving him, he quickly turned around, grinned slyly at him, and said, "You could use some braces yourself, Bucko."

Josh and his friends glared at Tommy as he and Chuckie continued on down the hall.

"Thanks, T." Chuckie said, grinning. "You're a real pal."

Tommy smiled. "Don't listen to them. They're just a bunch of jerks." Noticing a bulletin on one of the boards in the hallway, he said, "Hey, Chuck, are you interested in trying out for the tennis team?"

"What?"

"There's a bulletin for the tryouts over there." He walked over to the board and read it. "It says that tryouts start today after school."

"I don't know, Tommy." Chuckie replied, walking up to look at the poster. "I mean, I've never been good at sports."

Tommy nodded. "But, maybe it'll stop Josh and his pals from teasing you all of the time. And it won't give you much attention to your braces. Plus, even if we don't make it, it'll still be fun." He paused. "What do you say?"

Chuckie glanced at the bulletin once more and smiled. "Anything that'll get Josh and his friends off my back! I'm in!"

Tommy and Chuckie each ripped a tryout slip off of the poster, said that they would see each other at lunch, and headed in opposite directions to their classrooms.

* * *

**_D_**anny, Sam, and Tucker stared at their school in awe. After all, Casper High was _way_ bigger than Spirits Middle School. How the heck were they going to find their way around this place?

"Great." Danny mumbled, turning to his friends. "Just great. What if I need to grab a bite to eat, or need to use the restroom? I'll never be able to find the cafeteria or any of the bathrooms!"

Tucker slapped Danny on the back. "Dude, don't sweat it! We'll find our way around. Plus," he continued, "we get new teachers, new classes, _and_," Tucker added, "there's all sorts of news girls we can hit on!"

Sam rolled her eyes. "Whatever." she said walking toward Casper High. "While you two are checking out the scene, I'm going to actually _try_ finding my way to my first class." She then walked through the two double doors into the school building.

While the two boys strolled around the school, Danny's cell phone started ringing. He quickly pulled it out of his pocket and looked at the caller ID. It was his dad.

Danny flicked opened his phone. "Hey, Dad. What's up?"

"Hi there, son! How's Casper High working out for you so far?" Jack Fenton's cheery voice exclaimed.

"So far, so good." Danny replied. "I just got here two minutes ago."

"That's good. Oh, and Danny, when you're done with school, come home right away. Your mother and I have something to show you."

Danny grinned. He had already figured before he answered his dad's call that there was another reason his dad called him besides checking up on him. "What is it?"

"We think that we've figured out a way to open up a dimension to another universe."

Danny blinked. After all, that was unexpected. "Really?" he asked. "What universe?"

"Why, a ghost universe of course! It should be done by the end of school today. Bring your friends! We'll celebrate!"

Danny had to admit, out of all of the goofy things his parents had invented over the years, this one sounded really cool. "Sure! That sounds like fun!"

After a few more minutes of talking with his father, Danny hung up.

Tucker, who was hearing parts of the conversation, had an eager expression on his face. "What was that all about?" he asked.

Danny smiled. "We have to pay a visit to my house after school. Or should I say, ghostly dimension!"

Tucker grinned. "Cool! I'm totally there!"

That's when the five-minute bell rang, and the two friends ran to class.

* * *

**_A_**fter school that day, Danny, Sam, Tucker, Dil, Lil, Kimi, Susie, and Jazz arrived at Danny's house to see how the new ghost portal would work out. Dil and Kimi explained that Tommy and Chuckie were trying out for the tennis team and wouldn't be able to make it. Phil was checking the bulletins to see if he had made the soccer team. Susie told Danny that Angelica and her friend Harold were making plans for Angelica's thirteenth birthday party next month.

With that, the eight of them headed downstairs to the lab.

The Fenton's lab was pretty cool. It was a dark blue room, with light blue floor tiles, and was very big. There were books, boxes, test tubes, goop, and other things they couldn't recognize all over the floor, shelves, and counters. But, a new round carving in the wall with metal and wires all around it caught the eight friends attention.

"Whoa!" Tucker exclaimed. "I don't even know what this thing is, but whatever it is, it sure looks cool!"

"It looks like a portal into another universe!" Dil said in awe. "Cool! I can finally talk to my alien friends! Come to me my alien species!"

Danny chuckled. Ever since Dil was five, he believed in aliens. Maybe it because of when he and Tommy dropped Dil on his head when he was a baby by accident.

"It's not a portal to another universe, Dil." Danny explained. "It's a portal to another dimension."

"What kind of a dimension?" Lil asked.

"A ghostly dimension."

"Figures." Jazz mumbled. She thought this whole ghost thing with her parents was ridiculous. I mean, after all, who believed in ghosts anyway?

Danny glared at his older sister. "Come on, Jazz!" he exclaimed. "Who knows? This invention could turn out to be really cool! Give it a chance!"

Jazz paused for a moment, sighed, then said, "Fine." She headed toward the stairs and turned around to face her friends and her parents. "I'll be in the kitchen doing homework if you need me."

Jazz stomped up out of the lab.

Tucker leaned in toward Danny's right ear. "She's a constant downer, huh?"

Danny held back his laugher by asking his parents, "So, how does this…portal…thing…work exactly?"

Jack Fenton smiled at his son and said, "Well, if your Mom's calculations are correct, when we plug these two cords together, the portal should work!"

Susie grinned. "Why didn't you plug them in before we got here?"

"And let you kids miss out on all of the fun?" Maddie asked. "We wanted you guys to see it too!"

"Then plug those babies in, and let us see some magic!" Tucker exclaimed.

Jack smiled. Danny could tell he was very excited to see what would happen. He just hoped this ghost portal would work.

Jack lifted up the two cords.

The group of friends grinned.

He held them close together.

The seven kids watched excitedly. Danny thought he was going to collapse from the tension.

Finally, Jack plugged the two cords together.

All eyes were on the portal now. It didn't make a sound.

Jack and Maddie glanced at each other, shock planted on their faces.

"H-How didn't it work?" Maddie asked to no one in particular. "I checked, double checked, and triple checked the calculations! Something should've happened!"

Jack checked the switches and buttons next to the portal to see if anything was flipped the wrong way or if anything was pushed in that shouldn't be. Everything was the way it should be.

Jack sighed. "We were _so_ close." he said sadly. "Come on Maddie. Let's head upstairs."

Danny's heart sank as he watched his parents gloomily walk to the kitchen. He had never seen them like this. The one invention that they tried so hard to make that would probably make them some decent money, didn't work. Danny felt something deep within his stomach. It was a feeling sort of like all of times Dash had punched him hard in his gut. It really hurt.

Danny walked over toward a wooden box near the portal, and sat on it, all his friends eyes on him. Sam walked up to him and put a comforting hand on his right shoulder.

"Are you going to be okay?" she asked.

Danny nodded without looking at her. "I'll be fine." He replied glumly. "I just want to be alone for awhile if that's okay with you guys."

His friends nodded, and quietly, but quickly, walked up the stairs.

* * *

**_ T_**ommy, Chuckie, and Phil raced down the stairs to the lab to greet Danny with some good news.

"Danny!" Chuckie cried. "Tommy and I made the tennis team!"

Phil grinned proudly. "And I made the soccer team!"

Danny quickly glanced at his friends and said, "That's great you guys. Awesome job."

Tommy stared at his playmate. He knew Danny was upset about something. Normally, Danny was pretty enthusiastic about most things. Instead of telling his friends what happened on his first day of school, he was sitting on a wooden box look very depressed.

"Is something wrong, D?" he asked.

Danny nodded, pointing to the ghost portal. "That."

Phil's eyes widened. "Holy cow!" he exclaimed. "What is that thing?"

Danny explained how his parents were trying to build a portal to another dimension, and how it didn't work. "Now, I just feel really bad for them." he explained.

Chuckie sighed. "So that's why your Mom and Dad looked so sad when we came in."

Tommy shrugged helplessly. "There's nothing we can do now."

Danny sighed. "I know." he replied. "That's the problem." He thought for moment, then lifted his head up, and smiled at the ghost portal. "Unless…"

Chuckie's eyes widened when he figured out what Danny was thinking. "No way! You're not actually thinking of trying to go into that thing and fix it, are you?"

"Yeah, dude!" Phil cried. "That's really dangerous!"

Danny nodded. "I know. But it's the only way to make my parents happy again."

Tommy raised an eyebrow. "Really, Danny?" he asked. "Is that the only way to solve this? Why don't we run around the school buck-naked while we're at it? Or we can rob the AmityPark bank! How about we fly a kite during a thunder and lightning storm?" He smirked. "Or why don't you kiss Sam? If you're willing to do this, you should be able to tell her you like her, right? You seem to like her a lot."

Danny gaped at Tommy, trying to think of a comeback, but couldn't. "Look," he replied, "I'm going to go inside that portal and fix it, and there's nothing you can do to stop me!"

Tommy smiled. "You're in denial, Danny!" he exclaimed.

"So in denial!" Chuckie said, happily.

"Hey, Danny!" Phil cried. "While you're at it, why don't you bring her some flowers and candy? She'll appreciate that!"

Danny rolled his eyes. He knew Tommy, Chuckie, and Phil weren't trying to be offensive. They just loved the idea that he and Sam should be together. Although, Danny didn't think so. He and Sam were just friends. Right?

Danny quickly grabbed, and slipped on a white jumpsuit with black gloves, boots, and belt, and zipped it up. He then, grabbed a toolbox and walked into the portal, trying to ignore Tommy's, Chuckie's, and Phil's chants of, "Danny and Sam, sitting in a tree, K-I-S-S-I-N-G!" He looked around inside the portal, when he spotted something. An on button and an off button! And the off one was on!

"Hey, you guys!" he cried. "I think I found the problem! The off button in the portal was pressed in!"

By this time, Phil and Chuckie were making kissing noises. Tommy was laughing too hard to even make an attempt. He was giggling with his eyes slowly moving toward the floor. Suddenly, his heart fluttered with panic. The two cords were still plugged in!

"DANNY!" Tommy yelled. "NO! DON'T PRESS THE-,"

But, it was too late! Danny had already pressed the button! A flash of green light suddenly came. Then a large shriek. Then nothing.

Danny soon came stumbling out of the now swirling vortex that was in the portal. He was breathing hard, trying to keep from falling over. As he was trying to do this, he collapsed onto the floor.

Immediately, Tommy, Chuckie, and Phil ran toward him, panic in their eyes.

"I-Is he dead?" Chuckie asked.

Tommy bent down toward Danny's motionless body. "H-He's fine." He replied, his voice shaking. "He's breathing!"

"I-I'll go and get Mr. and Mrs. Fenton!" Phil said, running for the stairs.

* * *

**_ "I_**s he okay?" Sam cried, rushing into the room. "Please tell me he's okay!"

Everyone was thinking just the same thing. Family and friends were crowded around Danny's hospital bed. He was still conked out from the shock of 3,000 watts surging through his body. Yet, Danny looked so peaceful, like nothing had just disturbed him. Like he had felt nothing at all…

Soon the doctor came rushing into the hospital room. "Great news, Mr. and Mrs. Fenton! I just got the X-ray back." He held the picture of Danny's skeleton up to the window so everyone could see it. "Apparently, Danny was so close to the edge of the portal that the electrocution missed all of his internal organs. Although, there is some plasma from the machine that seeped inside him through his skin. But, it should go away in a little while. It's perfectly harmless." The doctor laughed, and shook his head. "I don't know how he did it, or how he's still alive right now. I've had severe cases like this before, and none of my patients ever recovered. But, Danny's going to be okay."

Everyone sighed with relief.

"Thank goodness!" Maddie exclaimed. "Thank you Dr. Carson!"

Dr. Carson nodded. "Now, let's let Danny rest until he wakes up."

Everyone left except for Tommy, Sam, and Tucker.

"Come on, Tommy!" Chuckie said, smiling. "Didn't you hear what Dr. Carson said? We need to let Danny rest!"

Tommy shook his head. "Danny's been there for me through thick and thin since I was a baby. And if he's going to wake up expecting to see someone there to help him through his pain and agony, I'm going to be there for him!" He pulled out a chair next to Danny's bed and sat on it. "I'm not going anywhere."

"I second that!" Tucker cried pulling out another chair, and scooting to the opposite side of the bed from Tommy.

Sam glanced at Danny who was still sleeping, and nodded. "Me too." She stood behind Tucker's chair.

Chuckie shrugged, watching his three friends. "Suit yourself!" he exclaimed, walking out of Danny's room.

* * *

**_A_**ngelica was sitting on her bed, tapping a pencil against her chin and holding a notepad in her left hand. She was thinking hard, her eyebrows furrowed in concentration. "Okay, we've got streamers, balloons, and some party games." she said, looking over the list she had just written. "Anything else we need to add?"

Angelica was talking to her friend since preschool, Harold who was sitting in a chair to the right of her. He had an uncomfortable look on his face. "Angelica, can't we do this later?" he asked. "I really want to go to the hospital! Besides, we've got plenty of time to prepare for this party!"

His friend sighed. "Harold," Angelica started, "this is my thirteenth birthday we're talking about here! So that means we've got to prepare for everything! Games, decorations, food…wait a minute! That's good!" she exclaimed jotting more stuff on her list. "Anyway, Tommy just called me. He said that Danny's going to be okay!"

"But I don't want Danny to think I ditched him in his time of need!" Harold cried.

"You didn't ditch him! You were helping him by caring for him while we had important things to do to help me!"

"Well, when you put it that way…"

"See, Harold? Have I ever steered you wrong?"

"Actually-,"

"Forget I asked anything."

Just then Susie popped into the room. She didn't look happy. "Where were you guys?" she asked. "Danny's in the hospital! Didn't you hear the news?"

"Of course we did!" Harold cried. "And I really wanted to go, but Angelica forced me to stay here! I feel terrible!"

Susie glared at Angelica and said, "You know Harold, that story sounded so desperate that I believe you!"

Angelica rolled her eyes. "Look, as long as Danny's all right, then that's all that matters, right? And I really needed to plan for this party!"

Susie furrowed her brows even more at Angelica. "Are you saying your thirteenth birthday party is more important than your cousin's best friend? What if Danny _wasn't_ okay? Then would you still be sitting here planning for your apparently important party? He could've _died_ Angelica!"

Angelica shrugged. "I would've rushed right over there and felt sorry with the rest of you guys! Just be thankful he's okay and will be back up on his clumsy feet doing who knows what with Tommy and his friends!"

Susie sighed. "Come on, Harold! I'll call Sam and tell her that you tried to make it to the hospital!"

Harold grinned with relief. "Okay, Susie!" He waved to his blonde haired friend. "See you later, Angelica!"

Angelica nodded, not glancing up at him from her list. "Whatever."

* * *

**_ T_**ommy, Tucker, and Sam were still at the hospital at 8:00 that night. They were all really tired, but were going to stay up as late as they could to see how long it would take Danny to wake up from his long rest.

Sam's cell phone rang just as Tucker was about to doze off. She dug through her purple spider backpack, pulled out her cell phone, checked the caller ID, and answered. "Hello?"

Tommy and Tucker quickly sat up and watched Sam as she talked to whoever it was on the phone. After two minutes had passed, Sam smiled and said, "Okay! Thanks, Susie!" and hung up.

"What did she want?" Tucker asked.

Sam rolled her eyes. "Angelica forced Harold to stay at her house during visiting hours in the hospital."

"Why?" Tommy asked.

"Who knows?" Sam asked. "Anyhow, Susie says Harold really wanted to be he-,"

Tommy suddenly jumped up.

"What?" Tucker asked, frantically.

"I think Danny just moved!"

The three friends quickly stood up just in time to see Danny sit up and slowly open his eyes.

"Danny! You're okay!" Sam cried, hugging him.

Danny grinned, then frowned when he glanced around at his surroundings. "What happened?" he asked softly.

"You mean, you don't remember?" Tucker said, incredulously.

Danny shook his head. "All I remember was pressing the on button in the ghost portal, and then…nothing."

So, Tommy had to explain everything that happened afterward. Danny listened, his eyes widening.

"It was pretty scary." Tommy admitted. "We thought we lost you after that, D."

"Wow." Danny said, taking it all in. "I'm glad that's over." He quickly stood up and walked to the nearest chair that wasn't taken.

"So, that's it?" Sam asked. "You get injured, wake up, and now you're just going to walk around like nothing just happened?"

Danny shook his head. "I wasn't injured, Sam. I was just a little…shocked!" He chuckled at his joke.

His friends didn't find it very funny.

"Come on you guys!" Danny cried. "I'm fine! Just call my parents, and I'll get home and get plenty of rest! I promise!"

Tucker slowly pulled out his cell phone, and glanced at his friends uncertainly. "Are you sure about this Danny?"

Danny nodded.

Tucker quickly dialed the number.


	4. Chapter 4

**_Chapter 4: Friends, Love, Siblings, and Ghosts _**

**_ D_**anny woke up, stretched, and yawned. He didn't know how or why he was thinking this, but he felt that today was going to be a strange day. Now, don't get me wrong. Danny had had days like this before. And most of the time, he was correct.

He smiled, shrugged, and slid himself out of his bed. After all, he had just gotten electrocuted by one of his parents' inventions yesterday. How could today be any stranger?

Danny walked into the bathroom, and shut the door. He grabbed his toothbrush and tube of toothpaste, squirted some toothpaste onto his toothbrush, and started brushing. He glanced up at the mirror and smiled. Today was going to be an awesome day. Or not. He quickly looked at the mirror again, and screamed.

He was wearing a black jumpsuit with white gloves, boots, and a belt. His body felt cold and his raven black hair was now white. He blinked, thinking that he was just imagining things. He opened his eyes again. Now, his friendly blue eyes were a ghostly green color.

Danny backed up into the door, his heart racing with panic.

"Danny, are you okay in there? I heard you scream." It was Jazz.

He had to think of something to tell her. And fast.

"Um, I'm fine." He lied. "I just saw a bug. A giant black bug with white spots, and green eyes staring back at me."

Danny hated to lie, but what else was he supposed to say?

Jazz laughed. "It sounded like you saw some sort of ghost bug or something!" She paused. "But, wait! You're not afraid of bugs!"

"It just startled me!" he explained. "And I mean, it _really_ startled me!"

"Well, okay then!" Jazz replied.

As soon as Danny heard his sister's footsteps retreating down the hall, he slowly walked up to the mirror again. 'Is that really me?' he thought.

He reached his shaking hand out toward the mirror and touched it. It was him alright.

Danny wasn't normally a person who would freak out by situations like this. After all, this was pretty much normal in the Fenton household. But it was _him_ this time that was the unusual thing in the house. And let me tell you, Danny's heart was thumping loudly in his chest.

Danny tried taking some deep breaths. "Come on, Danny!" he mumbled to himself. "You're a Fenton! You've got to figure out what's going on! You can't just stand around hoping this will go away!"

There were a few options Danny could choose from. One, he could talk to Jazz once more. Then again, she wouldn't believe him. Or she would scream and run before he got the chance to talk to her. Two, he could talk to his parents. But wait, parents plus whatever he was that he was sure wasn't normal equals…Danny shook head. He didn't even want to think about it.

"Come on!" Danny cried. "Who is the perfect person to go to in a situation like this?" Then it hit him. "Tommy!"

Tommy was pretty good with plans and he was a pretty brave kid. Danny was sure that Tommy wouldn't run at the first sight of him. Plus, Danny was supposed to come up with some costume ideas for his friend's next movie, so he would be stopping by later. It was perfect!

Danny jumped up with excitement and relief. "Yes! That's it! Tommy can help me figure out what's going on!"

Suddenly Danny screamed. He had just fallen through the floor into his living room!

"Danny, what are you doing on the floor?"

"Huh?"

"I asked what you were doing on the floor."

Danny glanced up to see his mom staring at him. Then he glanced down at himself. He was back to normal! But how?

"Um…" He glanced behind him to see that he had fallen right next to the stairs. What a relief! "I fell down the stairs, Mom. I guess I don't have my full footing yet!"

Maddie leaned down and placed her hand on her son's forehead. "Are you feeling alright, honey?"

Danny nodded. 'It's just that I have no idea what's going on with me, today!' he thought. Then he said, "I'm fine, Mom!" He stood up. "See? I'm alright!"

His mom frowned at him. "I think you should stay home for one more day, Danny. I'm calling the school."

Danny smiled. After all, staying home would do him some good. "Alright, Mom. If you say so." He slowly walked upstairs. He was halfway up when he paused, then asked, "Mom, can you go ahead and have Tommy come over too? I would love to have some company while Jazz is at school, and you and Dad are working in the lab."

Maddie hesitated, then nodded. "Alright. Just for today."

"Thanks!" Danny cried, walking quickly up to his room.

He opened the top drawer on the dresser next to his bed and pulled out a book called, _Ghosts and All You Need to Know About Them_. Danny never knew he would need this book so badly. Now, he was glad that he owned it!

He flipped open the thick book to the back to look at the index page. After a few minutes of searching, Danny found what he was looking for. _Signs of a Ghost: Pg. 82._ He quickly flipped to page 82 and read:

**_T_**_here are many ways to tell if there is a ghost nearby. Most ghosts have signs to tell each other apart. These include, bright green or red eyes, and blue, green, or white hair (Sometimes flaming.). Ghosts usually have a bright eerie glow around their entire body._

_ Powers include shooting rays out of hands (This also includes fire and ice), intangibility, floating, flying, walking through walls, phasing, etc._

_Humans can detect ghosts by feeling really cold temperatures and hairs on there bodies sticking up._

Danny gasped at what he had just read. There was so much about ghosts that he didn't know about! But more importantly was what he had experienced that morning. Bright green eyes, white hair, falling through the floor, really cold temperatures, and he happen to notice a glow around his body awhile back.

Could Danny actually be half ghost?

* * *

**_ "Y_**ou're going to love Emerson, Rachel." Sam said. "I've heard it's a great school."

Her younger cousin had arrived in Tommy's town early yesterday morning. Sam had decided to give Rachel the grand tour of the town before they had to go to school that day. Her cousin seemed really happy to be there. That was one great quality about Rachel. She never seemed to be worried about anything!

Rachel turned to her older cousin, and smirked. "You _think_ it's a great school?" she asked. "You've never actually been there before?"

Sam grinned. "Hey, I just know that over half of my friends go to that school. I can't exactly just stop by and say 'Hi!'."

"Oh right!" Rachel exclaimed. "I'm sorry. I just forget sometimes!"

Her cousin nodded. "Why don't we go and meet some of my friends before school starts? They can show you around!"

"Sounds great!"

Rachel was a very nice ten-year-old girl. She was tall and slim with long, wavy brown hair and brown eyes. She wore a cute red tank top, a dark blue jean skirt, and brown sandals. Rachel carried a small, light blue book bag over her right shoulder. She also wore a little bit of red lipstick.

Rachel and Sam then headed to EmersonElementary School. When they got there, Lil was there to greet them.

"Sam!" she cried, happily. "What are you doing here? I thought you'd be heading to school by now!"

Sam smiled. "I'm not staying." she explained. "I just came to drop off my cousin." She turned to Rachel. "Rachel, this is Lil Deville. Lil, Rachel Manson."

Lil shook Rachel's hand and grinned. "Nice to meet you Rachel. Any relative of Sam's is a friend of mine!"

Rachel smiled and nodded. "So, you're Sam's best friend! I've heard a lot about you and your twin brother, Phil."

"Well, he just headed to class. You can probably catch him after school though during soccer practice."

They both giggled.

"Well," Sam said to her cousin, "now that you've met one of my friends, I guess I'll-, Oh, man!" She quickly ducked behind one of the school garbage cans.

"What's wrong, Sam?" Rachel asked, leaning down next to her.

"Don't lean down!" Sam cried. "I really don't want him to see me!"

"You don't really want who to see you?"

Lil grinned. "I think I know." She nodded straight ahead. "That guy over there is Gregor isn't it, Sam?"

Sam nodded.

Rachel glanced over to where Lil was indicating. Gregor was a tall and skinny guy wearing white and black. His dyed, white hair stuck straight up, and he wore dark sunglasses. He seemed to be looking around for something.

"That's who you're afraid of?" Rachel asked. "Some guy you don't even know?"

"Yes!" Sam cried. "After all, why shouldn't I be afraid? I've never crushed on a guy in my entire life!"

"Yeah!" Lil whispered, loud enough so Sam could hear. "So she says!"

Sam glared at her best friend. "I already _told_ you! I don't like Danny that way!"

Rachel rolled her eyes. Sam had talked to her about Danny more times than she talked about Lil. Of course she wasn't going to believe her cousin now!

"You need help!" Rachel exclaimed. "And fast! Stand back, Lil!"

Lil did what she was told. Somehow, her instincts told her, she shouldn't get in the way of Sam's younger cousin!

Rachel slipped her book bag off her right shoulder, and set it on one of the school's outside tables. She opened her bag, and looked through it until she found her lunchbox. She quickly unzipped it, and looked inside. There was a peanut butter sandwich, some potato chips, a couple of oranges, and a strawberry-kiwi juice pouch.

Rachel took the two oranges out, zipped her lunchbox up, and put it back into her book bag. She then pulled her older cousin up from behind the garbage can.

"Rachel!" Sam whispered. "What are you doing?"

Her younger cousin slipped her book bag back onto her right shoulder, and smiled. "You'll see!"

Rachel grabbed one of the oranges off of the table, and chucked it straight at Gregor. It hit him directly in the back of the head!

"Ow!" Gregor winced and rubbed the back of his head. He bent down when he saw the orange on the ground in front of him. "Who threw this orange at me?" he asked, with an accent.

Rachel quickly grabbed the second orange off the table, and placed it in her cousin's left hand. "Sam did it!" she cried.

"RACHEL!" Sam yelled.

"Run, Lil!"

The two ten-year-old girls ran into the school building, giggling all the way.

Meanwhile, Gregor was staring at Sam with a puzzled look on his face.

"Um…" Sam said, trying to think of an explanation. "It slipped?"

* * *

**_ T_**ommy knocked on the Fenton's door eagerly. He was wondering what was going on with Danny. Tommy had known his playmate long enough to know that Mrs. Fenton wouldn't call for him to come over and miss school unless it was urgent (Even when she didn't know it herself.).

Many questions were running through Tommy's mind at the moment. Did something happen to Danny? Was something strange going on with his friend? He shook the thoughts from his head, and waited as patiently as he could, which wasn't much. Waiting for someone to answer the door was making Tommy anxious.

Soon enough, Jazz opened the door, and stared down at Tommy in surprise. "I didn't hear you knock on the door." she said, apologetically. "There's so much noise going on down in the lab, I can't even hear myself think!"

Tommy's eyes widened at this. "Is Danny okay?"

Jazz grinned. "What did you think? That Danny was down there being worked on? They're ghosts hunters, not surgeons!" She shook her head. "Danny's up in his room. He's been acting strange all morning. I don't know what's gotten into him."

Tommy had no time to spare. "Thanks, Jazz!" he cried, running past her toward the stairs.

* * *

**_"D_**anny!"

Danny jumped at the sudden voice that came up behind him. He quickly turned around to see Tommy staring at him, panic in his eyes. It soon disappeared to see that his pal was alright.

"Sorry, D!" Tommy exclaimed. "I didn't mean to startle you!"

Danny shushed him. "Keep it down, and shut the door!"

"Dude, what's wrong with you?"

"Just do what I say, and I'll show you!"

Tommy gave his playmate a puzzled look, shrugged, and slowly shut the door. "Now," he asked, folding his arms across his chest, "what's up?"

"Hold on a second!" Danny exclaimed, running into the bathroom, and quickly shutting the door behind him.

Tommy's eyes were widening again. For once, Jazz was right! Something was going on with Danny! He was never this energetic in the morning. Actually, Danny was never this energetic at all.

Five minutes slowly passed before Danny emerged out of the bathroom in his black and white costume. He stood in front of his playmate with an eager expression on his face. Tommy wasn't saying anything. He was staring at his friend, dumbstruck.

Five more minutes slowly passed before Danny finally lost his patience. "Well?"

Tommy grinned. "I know I told you to make something zombie-like for my movie," he started, "but this-_this_-is perfect! I'm sure to win the film making contest with these zombie costumes!"

Danny groaned. He had almost forgot! He was supposed to come up with a zombie-like costume for _When Fifth Graders Attack_! He hadn't even thought about it after the accident. Now, Tommy thought he had made a costume for his movie! There was no way he was going to believe him now!

"Tommy," Danny cried, "I know I was supposed to make a costume for your movie, but-,"

"But," Tommy interrupted, "you didn't have to go to this much trouble! Especially after what happened yesterday! How did you do it? This costume looks so-so-so lifelike!"

"That's because it is lifelike, Tommy!"

Tommy laughed. "Get out of here!"

"Tommy, I'm serious! I don't know how I got this costume! I woke up with it on this morning!"

His playmate grinned. "You're being _way_ too modest, D!" he exclaimed.

Danny groaned once more. How was he going to get Tommy to believe him?

Suddenly, "Danny! I'm coming in!"

Tommy smiled. "Come on, Danny! You have _got_ to show your Mom the costume you made!" He grabbed his friend by the arm.

"No!" Danny cried. "Tommy, wait-, AAAAAHHHH!"

Danny tripped over the door when his Mom opened it. Luckily, she didn't see anything because two rings went up and down his body, and his costume disappeared once more. He was wearing his normal clothing again!

Fortunately, Tommy had noticed this. He stared at Danny dumbstruck for a moment, then quickly turned to Mrs. Fenton.

"I just came to see what you boys were doing, and-," she paused, seeing Danny lying on the floor, "what is going on in here?" she asked, one eyebrow raised.

Danny gulped and quickly sat up. He had to think of a convincing answer, and fast! "Um…er…uh…" he mumbled, trying to think of a good explanation for his mom's question.

Tommy quickly jumped in. "What Danny was trying to say was…we were wrestling a little bit, and he was losing his balance. I should of listened when he said to stop, but I didn't, and Danny fell to the ground right when you walked in." He paused, then said, "It won't happen again."

Maddie nodded. "I appreciate your honesty, Tommy." Then she turned to her son, and said, "Please be more careful, Danny."

Danny put on his best smile, and nodded. "Sure, Mom!"

Mrs. Fenton grinned, then shut the door.

Once they were sure Danny's mom wasn't in earshot, they wiped the smiles off their faces.

"Okay," Tommy started, pulling his friend up to his feet, "that was _not_ normal!"

Danny glared at him. "Oh! You _think_?"

Tommy frowned.

Danny sighed, and fell back onto his bed. "Sorry, T. I really shouldn't be taking my anger and frustration out on you."

His playmate nodded. "It's okay, D. I probably would've done the same thing to you if I was in your position." He frowned once more. "So, what do you think is going on?"

Danny shook his head. "I don't know, Tommy. I just don't know."

That's when he told Tommy of all his strange experiences that happened that morning. The green eyes, falling through the floor, looking it all up in the ghost book, everything. He told his friend every single detail.

Once he finished, Danny added, "That's why I think I'm part ghost, and why I called you over. I need your help."

Tommy slowly nodded, then asked, "Why didn't you ask your parents for help?"

"Are you kidding me, T? I can't just walk up to my Mom and Dad, and say, 'Hi, Mom and Dad! I know this might sound crazy, but I woke up this morning with white hair and glowing green eyes, and I think I might be half ghost! So, if you could just do some experiments on me, maybe even saw me in half, that would be just swell!'"

"Okay! Okay!" Tommy cried. "I can see why you called me now!" He paused. "You don't think this had anything to do with accident yesterday, do you?"

Danny's eyes widened. He hadn't even thought of that possibility. "Tommy," he said slowly, "call Tucker on your cell phone. Tell him to meet us at my house after school and to bring any DNA and ghost equipment he can carry."

* * *

**_ G_**regor was still giving Sam a strange look.

Sam gulped. 'He's still not buying it.' she thought. Soon she came up with a reasonable answer. "Okay. Okay. I was trying to prove to my little cousin and my best friend I can throw things farther than both of them. And I guess my aim was a little bit off. Sorry."

Gregor grinned. "Why are you using oranges?"

Sam smiled. "Because we thought if we were to accidentally hit anyone in the back of the head, baseballs would be much harder than oranges."

Gregor laughed. "I guess I can buy that." he replied.

Sam nodded. "So, why aren't you heading to Casper High?"

"I was just about to ask you the same thing."

"I was introducing my little cousin Rachel to some of my friends."

Gregor nodded. "I see." Then he frowned and asked, "Why is she going to this school instead of Ghoul Elementary?"

"She just moved here." Sam replied, now a bit more comfortable talking to him. "And I've known some of the kids who go to this school since I was in kindergarten."

"Ah! I was just dropping off my little brother." Gregor explained.

"Wait a minute!" Sam exclaimed. "You and your brother go to different schools?"

"We're exchange students."

"From where?"

"Hungary."

Sam grinned. "No thanks. I just had an orange."

Gregor laughed. "You know, you're pretty funny."

"Thanks."

"So, Sam, do you want to walk to school?"

"Sure."

As the two of them were walking toward EmersonElementary School's sidewalk, Sam thought, 'This is going to be a great day!'

* * *

**_ T_**ommy answered the door when Tucker knocked.

"I got here as fast as I could!" Tucker exclaimed. "I've got DNA equipment, ghost scanners, everything I could carry!"

Tommy nodded. "That's great, Tuck! Come on in!"

The two boys walked into the Fenton's living room, and headed up the stairs. As they walked down the hall toward Danny's room, Tucker asked, "Why does Danny need all of this stuff anyway?"

"Let's just say he's feeling a bit ghostly today." Tommy replied.

"What do you mean?"

Tommy quickly opened the door, and shut it behind them once they stepped inside.

Danny immediately sat up on his bed. "Great, Tuck! You're here!"

Tucker nodded at his friend with a puzzled look on his face. "Yeah, D. I'm here alright." He glanced at Tommy. "What the heck is going on?"

"Tommy!" Danny exclaimed. "I think I've finally got the changing thing down!"

"Changing?" Tucker was even more confused. "Dude, what the heck are you talking about?"

Danny suddenly raised his arms up in the air, and two white rings went up and down his body. Soon, he was in his ghostly costume.

Tucker was staring at his friend, his mouth round in surprise. When he finally was able to speak, he asked, "How-,"

Tommy cut him off. "We think it has something to do with the accident that happened yesterday." He paused, then asked, "Do you think you could do some tests on him and make sure he's alright?"

Tucker nodded. "I think so. Let's get to work."

* * *

**_ A_**n hour passed before Tucker finally said, "Okay. I think I finally got it!"

Danny and Tommy, who were about to fall asleep from boredom on Danny's bed, quickly sat up.

"What do you have for us, Tucker?" Danny asked, eagerly.

"Well," his friend started, "yesterday Dr. Carson said that there was some plasma inside your body from the machine. He said it was perfectly harmless and it should go away within a few hours." Tucker grinned. "That much is true."

Danny sighed with relief. He was going to be okay.

"But what about all of the ghostly symptoms we told you about?" Tommy questioned.

"I'm getting there right now!" Tucker exclaimed. "From looking at these new X-rays, Danny, the plasma _seemed_ to disappear quite awhile ago."

"_Seemed_?" Danny asked, a nervous edge in his voice. "What exactly do you mean by _seemed_?"

"Well," Tucker continued, "you see, the plasma didn't _completely_ disappear." He zoomed in on the X-ray with Danny's computer. "As you can see, there are some tiny splotches of green that seeped into Danny's hair, bones, skin, everything!"

Tommy was getting impatient. "But, what does it _mean_ Tuck?"

Tucker sighed. "It _means_ that 50% of the plasma disappeared and the other 50% mixed with your DNA."

Danny's eyes widened. "So, does that mean…" He couldn't finish his sentence.

Tucker nodded. "It's exactly what you thought." He turned away from the computer to face Danny. "You're half ghost dude."

* * *

**_ L_**il sat in the stands, put her hands under her chin, and sighed. She wasn't having a very good time.

Ever since Phil had made the soccer team, it was always soccer, soccer, and more soccer at her house. And her dad being a soccer fan, and her mom being the coach for Phil's team wasn't much help.

Now Lil was sitting watching the team kick soccer balls everywhere because her mom forced her to come and support her twin brother and his teammates.

"Besides," Mrs. Deville had said, "maybe you'll grow to like soccer by watching."

Lil sighed once more, and took off her light pink backpack. "Sorry, Mom," she mumbled to herself, "but _nothing_ could be more boring than this." Lil unzipped her backpack and searched until she found a book. She quickly opened it, and started reading.

No more than five minutes later, Kimi and Rachel joined Lil up in the stands.

"Hey, Lil!" Kimi exclaimed. "What's up?"

Lil glanced up from her book and grinned. "Nothing really." she replied. "I'm just sitting here, reading a book, and being bored to death."

"You're not a soccer fan, huh?" Rachel reasoned. She and Kimi sat on either side of their friend.

Lil shook her head.

Rachel glanced down at the field. "Is that your brother down there?"

"Which one?"

"The tall one with the short, curly hair."

"Yep." Lil replied, going back to her book.

"I thought so. He looks a lot like you."

"Yeah." Lil said, not glancing up from her book. "That's what they all say."

Kimi and Rachel were watching Phil. He was running around kicking the soccer ball, trying not to let the other team get it. He looked around for an opening. When Phil finally found one with one of his teammates in a ready position, he kicked the ball. Unfortunately, he kicked it a little _too_ hard. It flew into the stands, straight toward Lil!

"Heads!" Phil cried.

"Lil!" Kimi yelled. "Look out!"

Lil tilted her head up. She saw the soccer ball coming toward her. Without hesitation, she quickly set the book down, caught the ball without standing up, and tossed it back into the field. Then, she picked her book back up and continued reading.

Everyone was staring at Lil, eyes widening, mouths round in surprise. Kimi, Phil, Rachel, even her mom was watching her with a shocked expression on her face.

When Lil felt all of their eyes on her she glanced up. She looked at them all with a puzzled expression on her face. "What?"

* * *

**_ "S_**o, wait," Danny cried, "does this mean that I'm-,"

Tucker cut him off. "If you're going to ask me if you're half dead, then no you aren't. All the accident did to you was give you some ghostly abilities. That's all."

"So that's it?" Danny asked, a frustrated look on his face. "I'm just going to sit here and say, 'Hey, I have ghost powers!' and not be able to know what to do with them?"

"Well when you put it that way…"

Danny fell back on his bed. "No, Tuck. I can't just keep these powers and not be able to do anything with them." He sat up. "All I need is a sign. A sign that will tell me what to do." He stood up, and went crashing to the ground.

Danny looked behind him to see what had caused his fall. It was the Spiderman comic book that Phil had let him borrow. He quickly picked it up, with the book open. Once more the words: "With great power, comes great responsibility." stood out in front of him. Danny grinned. He knew what to do now.

"You guys," he started, "I've got a plan!"

"Since when does that happen?" Tommy teased.

"Ha. Ha. Very funny." Danny replied. "Anyway, get all of our friends to meet me down in the lab after school tomorrow. I think I know a great way to use my powers to my advantage!"

* * *

**_ "S_**o that's why I'm afraid to use the locker room showers after tennis." Chuckie explained.

He and Tommy were walking down the school hallway explaining of their adventures from yesterday (Tommy left the ghost details out during his story. He really didn't think anyone would believe him until Danny showed everyone later that day.). It was about 8:15 and class wouldn't start for another fifteen minutes.

Tommy smiled and shook his head. "Chuckie, your body isn't scrawny. It's just perfectly slim!"

"Well I've heard otherwise." Chuckie said, gloomily.

"From who?"

Suddenly, a huge fit of laughter came in the two friend's direction. It was Josh and his crew.

'Of course.' Tommy thought, angrily as he and Chuckie walked up toward them.

"Look, everybody!" Josh exclaimed to his pals. "It's Scaredy-Cat Finster, who's afraid to shower in the locker room!" He laughed menacingly. "What a loser!"

Chuckie's gloomy look turned even sadder.

Tommy walked up to Josh angrily and grabbed him by the shirt collar. "Listen here, _pal_." he started. "I don't know who you think you are, but you'd better lay off my best friend. I heard somewhere that bullying can lead to suspension. And I'm sure your parents won't appreciate that, now will they?"

Josh's smirk suddenly turned into a frown. "No, I guess not." he replied after a moment of silence. "You win. I'll lay off Finster-for now."

Tommy sighed, and let go of Josh's shirt collar. After all, he supposed it was better than nothing.

Josh and his pals turned the opposite direction, and stormed off.

Chuckie grinned, and turned to his friend. "Thanks, T." he exclaimed.

"No, prob." Tommy replied.

"Well, I might as well go to class. See you at lunch?"

"Sure! See you later!"

Chuckie headed to class, while Tommy headed down the hall toward his locker. He unlocked the lock, grabbed his stuff, and shut the locker door. He was about to head to class when a voice caught his attention.

"Wait!"

Tommy turned to see a girl about his age with brown hair running up to him. He didn't know her at all, and really, he didn't care. There was something inside Tommy telling him he should get to know this girl.

"Um…Hi!" he stuttered.

"Listen," she started, "I saw what you did for your friend back there, and I thought that was really brave of you to stand up to that jerk like that!"

Tommy's throat went dry. "Well…er…thanks!"

The brown haired girl nodded. "No prob!" She paused, then asked, "What's your name?"

'What is my name?' Tommy thought. Then, "Er…Tommy."

"Well, hi there, Er…Tommy! My name is Rachel." Rachel paused, then said, "You know, my older cousin has a friend named Tommy."

"Really?" Tommy asked. "If that's so, then you're cousin's friend's parents must have a really good taste in names."

Rachel laughed. "You're funny!"

'Well,' Tommy thought, 'at least I didn't screw _that_ one up.'

"What are you doing after school?"

"Huh?"

"I asked what you're doing after school."

"Oh!" Tommy exclaimed. "Well, my friend and I have tennis practice, so…"

"I can meet you there!" Rachel paused. "Sorry if it sounds like I'm trying to butt in, but I just moved here, and I'm trying to get used to the school and everything, and…"

"Oh! No! No! No! It's fine!" Tommy replied. "I was just going to say you can stop by and meet my friend later. He's really cool. He makes friends very easily."

"All right. I'll see you there then!"

"Yeah, sure!"

That's when the five-minute bell rang. Rachel ran down the hall to her classroom.

Tommy watched her leave, sighed happily, and quickly ran to class.

* * *

"It's no big deal really, Chuck." Rachel said to her new friend. "The first time in the locker room showers is always scary. But once you do it, it gets easier."

"That's what I've been trying to tell him all day!" Tommy exclaimed.

Chuckie, Rachel, and Tommy were heading to Fenton Works for Danny's big plan. Tommy also wanted to introduce Rachel to the rest of his friends before the meeting got started. He figured Danny wouldn't mind.

Chuckie sighed. "I appreciate your help you guys. But I'm still not very comfortable with this whole after sports shower rule."

Tommy grinned. "Don't worry, Chuck!" he said, putting a hand on his pal's shoulder. "I'm here for you every step of the way! I'm going to help you conquer this fear!"

"That's so sweet of you!" Rachel exclaimed, as the three friends approached the Fenton's house. She ran up the steps and knocked on the door.

As she did so, Tommy whispered, "Isn't Rachel just awesome, Chuck?"

Chuckie nodded. "Yeah. She's pretty cool." He glanced at his pal, and a sly smile spread across his face as he watched his expression. "I think she might like you, T."

"You think so?"

"I'm positive!"

Tommy sighed. "I've never felt this way about a girl before."

Chuckie slapped his friend's back. "Welcome to love, dude!" he exclaimed. "Welcome to love!"

As the two boys climbed up Fenton Work's steps, someone answered the door. Chuckie and Tommy were surprised to see that it was Sam. They assumed that Danny was down in the lab. But that wasn't what shocked them.

"Rachel!" Sam exclaimed.

"Sam!" Rachel cried.

"Huh?" Tommy asked.

Sam grinned. "What are you doing here?"

"I was just going to ask you the same thing!"

"Well, this _is_ Danny's house!"

"No way!"

That's when Tommy broke up the girls' conversation. "Wait a minute!" he cried. "Stop everything! You two know each other?"

"Well, no duh, Tommy!" Sam exclaimed. "She's my cousin!"

"Cousin!"

"Yeah!"

"Oh."

"So wait a minute! If you and Sam are friends," Rachel said pointing to both Sam and Tommy, "and your name is Tommy," she continued, "you must be Tommy Pickles and Chuckie Finster!" She ran up and hugged them both at the same time. "Oh, I've heard _so_ much about you guys!"

Chuckie nodded once Rachel broke up their group hug. "Same with you!"

"Yeah!" Tommy said, nervously.

Sam grinned. "So, now that you've all gotten to know each other, why don't I show you the lab, Rachel?"

"Sounds awesome!" Rachel exclaimed. She turned toward the two boys. "Are you guys coming?"

"Um, we'll catch up in a minute!" Tommy replied.

"Suit yourself!"

The two girls ran down the stairs.

Once he was sure the girls were out of earshot, Tommy cried, "Chuck, what am I going to do? I've got a crush on my friend's cousin! Sam is going to flip when she finds out!"

"I don't know, T! The unwritten dude code of law says to never have a crush on a friend's sister. And I'm pretty sure that includes cousins!"

"Aw, man!"

"Unless-,"

Tommy glanced up from the floor, and glanced at Chuckie eagerly. "Unless, _what_ Chuckie?"

"Unless, there _isn't_ a rule about asking permission first."

"You're kidding."

"No, I'm not. After the meeting, you're going to march straight up to Sam and ask her if you're allowed to go out with her little cousin."

Tommy sighed. After all, what choice did he have? "Well," he replied, "it's worth a shot."

* * *

**_ A_**fter everyone was down in the lab, and introductions had been made to Rachel, it was time for the meeting. Danny Fenton was standing in the middle of the lab, fiddling with his thumbs. He wasn't exactly thrilled about showing his group of friends his ghostly abilities or telling them what he was going to do with them. But he knew he had to, or else how was anybody going to believe him?

Danny glanced straight ahead to see Tommy and Tucker approaching him. They stood on either side of him, grinning.

Tommy slapped his friend on the back. "I'm ready when you are, D."

Tucker nodded. "We're here for you, man."

Danny grinned nervously and nodded. "Thanks you guys." He took a deep breath and said, "I'm ready whenever you guys are."

Tommy took a moment to think, nodded, then said, "Quiet, everybody! The meeting's about to begin!"

Everyone quickly fell silent.

Tommy sighed, then said, "I suppose you're wondering why we're all here today. After all, all that the three of us told you was to meet in Danny's lab after school with no other information." He paused, then continued. "Look around my friends. You see here, a huge lab. A lab we call Fenton Works. This lab has been with us over the past…well…many years. Whether you've known it for only today, a week, a month, or many, many years, this lab has been important to us individually.

"All of us, that is, except for the one kid who lives under this lab's roof." Tommy turned to look at Danny, who shrugged nervously. "Don't you see," he continued, "that we got this lab all wrong? Over all of the years we've ignored it like it was garbage, sludge, or dirty laundry. Ever since we were babies knowing nothing more than what it was like to have an adventure when it was right in front of us all along.

"Look, I know we aren't perfect. But the one thing that makes us good, is helping the good of all humanity." Tommy turned to Danny once more. "That accident, that one big accident that doesn't seem so big anymore, changed my pal Danny Fenton's life. I guess you can say it even gave him a present. And he's going to open it and show not just this town, but the whole world what he can do. Even though he's not so sure where exactly he's going to go, he knows he has a job to do. And he's going to make sure it's done right."

Tommy paused once more, and said, "So, without further ado, I present to you, Danny Phantom."

Danny sighed, lifted his arms up, and allowed the two white rings to go up and down his body. Soon, his ghostly side, Danny Phantom, appeared before them. His friends stared at him in awe.

Tucker then continued Tommy's speech. "Now, Danny's planning to prevent and/or stop the ghostly activity that's been going on in AmityPark lately. So, Tommy and I are going to help coach him each weekend we get so he can get used to his new abilities." He paused, then asked, "Are there any objections?"

A minute passed without anyone raising hands.

"Okay then!" Tucker exclaimed.

Suddenly, a hand shot up.

"Sam?"

Danny glanced over at Sam anxiously. Was she not liking the idea?

Sam nodded. "Yeah, I object!"

Danny's heart sank until his friend said, "Unless I'm helping with the coaching too!"

Danny grinned as Sam walked up and stood next to him.

No more than two seconds later, Rachel's hand flew up.

"Yes, Rachel?" Tucker asked.

"Family sticks together." she stated, simply. "And if Sam's going to help out with Danny's coaching, I'm going to too!"

Rachel walked up and stood between Sam and Tommy.

"Friends stick together also." Lil said, without raising her hand. "So I'm in!"

"Same goes with me!" Phil exclaimed.

"Me too!" Chuckie cried.

"Us too!" Harold and Susie chorused.

Soon everyone, even Angelica was walking up by Danny's side.

Danny grinned. With all of his friends by his side, this was going to be a cinch!

* * *

**_ "H_**ey, Sam! Can I talk to you in private for a moment?"

Sam turned to face her friend. "Sure, Tommy!" she exclaimed. "Anything you need, I'm here for you!"

'I sure hope so!' Tommy thought as he and Sam walked upstairs from the lab and into the Fenton's kitchen.

Once they got there, and were positive that they were out of hearing range, Sam folded her arms across her chest and said, "Okay, Tommy. What's up?"

Tommy sighed. "Okay. How am I going to start this?" he asked himself. Then, "I just turned ten a few months ago, and I've been kind of going through some stuff lately."

Sam nodded, getting Tommy's meaning. "Okay. So, how come you're asking me and not one of the guys?"

Her pal sighed once more then asked, "How should I break this to you?" He paused, then replied, "Because it kind of involves you. Because I sort of…well…started going through this stuff when a certain friend of yours arrived a few days ago." Tommy stared down at the tiled kitchen floor, embarrassed.

It took a minute for Sam to get what Tommy was trying to say. She grinned, then said, "Okay. Here's the deal. Rachel likes lilies and doing relaxing stuff. But no chocolaty things. She's lactose intolerant."

Tommy glanced up at his friend, shocked. "Wait a minute!" he cried, a grin spreading across his face. "You mean-,"

"Yes, Tommy!" Sam exclaimed. "I trust you! And besides, I think some of your 'Guys Unwritten Code' thing is _way_ off." She was silent for a moment, then said, "To tell you the truth, I know exactly what you're going through. I'm going out with this guy at school Friday evening."

"I see." Tommy replied, too thankful to even pay any attention to what Sam was saying. He walked toward the kitchen entrance, then froze. "Wait a minute! Did you just say you have a _date_ on Friday?"

Sam nodded.

"Who-,? What-,? Huh?" Tommy stuttered.

"It's not Danny if that's what you're thinking."

"That's what I'm shocked by!"

Sam rolled her eyes, then exclaimed, "Just go ask Rachel out already!"

Tommy nodded, still paralyzed by shock. "Yeah. Okay." He ran out of the kitchen, then ran back and said, "By the way, Sam, I _so_ owe you one!"

Sam smiled at her friend as he ran back out of the kitchen.

* * *

**_ "W_**ait a minute!" Danny exclaimed. "What did you just tell me?"

Danny was training with the guys this weekend down in the lab. The girls were going to be next week, and so forth. This weekend was all about invisibility. Earlier, Danny thought it would be easy. But it was much harder than it looked.

Dil Pickles was staring down at a Ouija board, trying to find out if 'anything bad was coming their way with words'. He glanced up at Danny, grinned, laughed, then said, "My big bro was trying to tell you that Sam is going out. On a date. With some guy who isn't you."

"Thanks, Dil." Danny said, annoyed.

"No, prob."

Phil smiled at the look on his friend's face. "If I didn't know better," he started, "I'd say that Danny Fenton/Phantom is jealous."

Danny stared at Phil wide-eyed with anger. "I am _not_ jealous!" As he said this, he accidentally blasted a huge hole through the redish-orangeish hat Tommy was wearing.

Danny covered his mouth with both hands in shock. He didn't even know he could do that yet!

Meanwhile, Tommy was gawking at the hat, thinking about how close that ray had gotten to his hair.

Dil laughed once again. "See that, Tommy? I _told_ you the Ouija board told you to wear a hat this morning for great danger!"

Tommy nodded. "And it's a good thing I did too! I was almost burned to a crisp!"

"Well," Harold stated, scribbling something on his notepad, "that's another power we need to work on! Ghost rays!"

Tucker nodded at Harold, then turned to face Danny again. "If you're not jealous, then how come you're getting so worked up about it?"

"I am not!" Danny cried. "I'm just concentrating really hard!"

"On what? Your invisibility?" Tucker asked. "Danny, all you could make disappear today was one eyebrow!"

"Hey! It's better than nothing!"

Tommy sighed, and shook his head. "I told you so, D. I told you if you like Sam, you should've told her earlier! Otherwise, none of this would've happened!"

"Easy for you to say! You're going out with Sam's cousin!"

"Yeah, I know! Awesome, right?"

Danny nodded.

"Well," Chuckie said, interrupting the conversation, "I'd better get going. I promised my Mom I'd be home by eight to wash the dishes."

"To wash the dishes?" Phil asked, a sly look spreading across his face.

"What do I look like? A body builder?"

"You're telling me." Danny mumbled.

Everyone said goodbye to Chuckie, and soon everyone else left the lab too. Everyone that is, except for Danny. He had seen that one guy hanging around a lot with Sam lately, and honestly, he didn't trust him. If Danny was going to fight all of these ghosts, and possibly 'check up' on Sam on Friday evening without her noticing, he was going to have to train. And hard at that.


	5. Chapter 5

**_Chapter 5: The Balanced Table Tips Over_**

_A month later…_

**_ "C_**ome on, Lil!" Phil cried. "Block that ball! Go, Lil!"

You're probably wondering what's going on. Well, you see, Mrs. Deville, under Phil's suggestion, had pulled Lil aside and asked her to be the goalie for her soccer team. The original goalie, Joey, was skateboarding a couple weeks ago and broke his leg. And Lil, being the volunteer girl she is and always has been, decided to take his place.

Lil had started to enjoy soccer then. She had been practicing with Phil in the backyard for quite awhile now. In fact, she had gotten better and better each day with Phil's help. And Lil has been enjoying it very much.

But that's when things got a little bit out of hand.

Phil had stormed into Lil's bedroom with a very unpleasant look on his face. "I need to talk to you, Lil! Now!"

Lil sighed. She was on the phone when Phil had barged in. "I've got to go, Kimi. I'll talk to you later." She placed the phone on the receiver, and glared up at her twin brother. "What do you want, Phil?" she asked, angrily.

"It's about soccer." he replied.

Lil perked up a bit. "Cool!" she exclaimed. "What is it? Do you need any advice?"

Phil shook his head. "Oh, no! Not this time, Lil!"

"What do you mean?"

"I mean this has to _stop_."

"I don't know what you're talking about." It was true. Lil had no idea what had been going on with her brother lately. She had no idea why Phil had barged into her room without permission. He had never done that before.

"That!" Phil cried. "You're doing it right now!"

"Doing what?"

"Bragging! Ever since you've join the soccer team, you've been acting all different!"

"What?" Lil exclaimed, madly. "Phil, you were the one who suggested I should join the team! Besides," she added, "I'm not quitting now! And I'm not bragging! I'm having fun!"

"Yeah! Fun for you! Soccer was _my_ thing before you came running along!"

"Your thing? It's my thing too!"

"Lil!" Phil cried, anxiously. "Don't you get it? You told the whole soccer team that you taught _me_ everything you know! In case you've forgotten, it's the other way around! You _hated_ soccer before we found out you were good and let you join the team!"

"Yeah, so?" Lil asked. "I'm just giving the team what they want to hear! What's wrong with that?"

"What's wrong is you aren't being a very good twin!"

Lil gasped. She was outraged. After all they'd been through together? After giving advice to Phil on stuff he needed to work on throughout soccer practice, he was calling her a bad twin?

"Well…" she stuttered, "Well…you're…you're…you're just jealous!"

"Jealous!" Phil laughed menacingly. "Oh, come on, Lil! Give me a break!"

"Just admit it, Philip!"

"I'm not jealous, Lillian!"

"You're acting like a four year old!"

"Well, you're acting like a two year old!" Phil yelled, stomping toward his sister's bedroom door and opening it. "And don't you forget it, because I'm not talking to you anymore! _EVER!_"

Lil was paralyzed by shock for a moment, but quickly recovered. "_FINE!_" she yelled back. "BE THAT WAY!"

She angrily grabbed the remote, plopped on her bed, and turned on the television.

* * *

**_ M_**eanwhile, Tommy Pickles was doing just fine. During his free weekends when he wasn't helping Danny train, he was working on the production of _When Fifth Graders Attack_. What with his busy schedule of tennis, training, and all, Tommy's movie ran pretty smoothly.

Soon, was the day of the contest. Sure, Tommy was pretty nervous at first. That is, until his friends came to cheer him on. Some of the films (including Tommy's) were great, some were weird, some were horrible, and some just plain stupid. But all in all, Tommy and his friends had an awesome time. Especially when Tommy won second place in the filming contest.

Speaking of the filmmaking contest, did I mention that Tommy and Rachel became a couple on the same day (And yeah, you probably saw that one coming.)? Yep. After the excitement after the contest, and Tommy winning second place…well, yeah. You get my point. You've seen the movies.

Anyway, life was going great for Tommy. Until he was heading home that one afternoon.

You see, Tommy had been hanging out with Rachel a lot lately. Most of you all know how relationships work. One moment, you're hanging out with your group of friends, having fun, and just minding your own business, then all of a sudden, he or she comes along, and then they're the only person you're hanging out with or thinking about for quite awhile.

Anyhow, Tommy and Rachel were walking back to the Pickles' house that weekday afternoon. Actually, it was getting pretty close to evening. You could tell because the normally blue sky was turning pink and orange.

Suddenly, Rachel's cell phone rang. She searched through her small, black purse, pulled the phone out, and answered the call. "Hello?" She talked for a few minutes, then said, "Okay. Bye!" She hung up.

Rachel turned to Tommy. "That was my Mom." she replied. "I've got to get home. I need to help her cook dinner. You know, since the baby is due any day now, and all."

Tommy nodded. "Go ahead. I'll see you tomorrow."

"Thanks!" Rachel exclaimed. She gave her boyfriend a quick kiss on the cheek, and ran off.

Tommy's grinned never slipped off his face until five minutes later. "Oh, man! Chuckie!" He saw his friend standing in his front yard, glaring at him. Tommy ran up to him, guilt spreading across his face. "Chuck! Oh, man! I'll totally make it up to you! I promise!"

Chuckie averted his eyes from his friend. "That's what you said the last time." he mumbled. "And the time before that, and the time before that." He glared at Tommy once more. "You promised that you would help me conquer my shower fear!"

"And I'm going to!" Tommy exclaimed. "You won't believe how guilty I'm feeling right now!"

"You said that the last two times too!"

"I'm sorry! I truly am!"

"Yeah, sure you are!"

"Chuck…"

"Don't Chuck, me!" Chuckie cried. "Do you know what I've had to deal with the last few days?"

Tommy paused, afraid of what the answer might be, then asked, "No, what?"

"Josh!" Chuckie cried without hesitation. "Josh and his pals! They still keep making fun of me and the whole shower thing!" He was silent for a moment, then he yelled, "I only didn't tell you because you were so happy with your new girlfriend at the time, I didn't want to spoil it for you! Now, look, Tommy! She's all you ever think about!"

"That's not true…"

"It's so true!" Chuckie continued yelling. "She's all you ever hang out with! She's even more important than your best friend!"

"Chuckie…"

Tommy's friend sighed. "Save it, Tommy. Just save it." He turned around and walked toward his house.

Tommy sighed, turned around, and walked down the street toward his house.

Kimi, who had heard most of the conversation while taking out the trash, turned to her older brother, and asked, "Don't you think you were being a bit harsh?"

Chuckie glanced back at his friend, then quickly turned around. "I don't care." he grumbled as he and his sister walked back into the house.

* * *

**_"C_**ome on, Sam!" Danny texted. "Talk 2 me!"

A few minutes passed before Danny's cell phone vibrated. He picked up the phone and flipped it open, eager to read the message Sam had written. It said:

"How many times do I have 2 tell u? I'm not talking 2 u!"

Danny sighed angrily, then texted back, "U R talking 2 me right now!" He hit the send button, then lay back on his bed. Things hadn't gone so well for him.

Danny had gotten better with his powers over the past month. He knew enough to turn invisible, walk through walls, shoot ghost rays out of his hands, and to keep his balance while flying.

He had also fought a couple of ghosts too. Those of which included, Skulker, a ghost capturer of things rare and unique. Ember, a punk rock ghost who could hypnotize you to do evil things with her music. And the box ghost, a stupid ghost who haunts boxes and was really easy to capture. The only problem was, that everyone thought since the now famous Danny Phantom was a ghost, that he was evil. And that just brought more trouble from him. Especially from his ghost hunting parents who didn't know of Danny Phantom's secret identity. But that wasn't what was bugging him.

Danny's suspicion, curiosity, and perhaps jealousy got the better of him. Using his powers, he had spied on Gregor and Sam during their date to see if Gregor was part of some sort of ghostly government agency or something. He figured his powers would help him. Boy, was he ever wrong! While Gregor and Sam were in the movie theater, one of Danny's ghost rays accidentally blasted out of one of his hands, right when Danny was sneaking up behind them. Danny was so shocked that it happened, that he turned back into Danny Fenton before Gregor and Sam turned around. Gregor was surprised more than anything else to see that one of Sam's friends snuck up on them in the movie theater. But boy, was Sam ever peeved!

I think you can figure out the rest of what happened yourself.

Danny sighed once more. 'Why the heck did I let this happen?' he thought.

He was still thinking on this, when his cell phone vibrated again. Picking it up, and flipping it open, Danny was surprised to see that Lil was the one who sent the message. It said:

"Emergency! Get over to my house now!"

Without hesitation he grabbed the Fenton Thermos (A thermos that sucks up ghosts) and ran out of his bedroom.

* * *

**_ D_**anny was surprised to see that nobody was in trouble when he barged into Phil and Lil's house. "Wha-, What's going on?" he asked. "You said there was an emergency!"

Phil grinned at his friend. "Ever since you got those powers you worry too much!"

"But that's not important right now!" Lil exclaimed. She turned to glare at her brother. "_Right_, Phil?"

Phil rolled his eyes.

"Anyway," Tommy continued, "I heard a noise outside my house tonight. I wanted to see if there was a ghost outside." He paused, then said, "So I set up my camera. And this is what I got."

He pressed the play button on his video camera. Then the four friends leaned over the camera to watch. No more than five seconds later, a giant, slimy green footprint appeared. It was crushing the road with each step it took.

"Whoa!" Danny cried.

Phil stared at the video wide-eyed, then asked, "Why do I suddenly feel like one of those innocent bystanders on that show Cloverfield?"

Lil groaned with frustration. "First of all," she started, "Cloverfield is a _movie_ not a show. Second of all, you're not allowed to see PG-13 movies. And third, why are you talking about movies at a time like this? This is real life! Stop being so childish!"

Phil glared at his sister. "Oh, come on!" he cried. "Now, you're telling me to not be what I am? A child?"

"Well, you were acting like one when you barged into my room without permission earlier today!"

"Yeah, well I-,"

"Whoa!" Tommy suddenly exclaimed.

"What is it?" Danny asked, eagerly.

"Let's just say the monster isn't the only thing I caught!"

"What do you mean?"

Tommy slowly turned the camera so his friends could see it. They all gasped in anger. On the video was Gregor with another girl!

"What a butthead!" Phil cried.

"What a jerk is more like it!" Lil exclaimed. "You've just messed with my best friend!" she yelled at the camera. "That means you've messed with me also!"

"Wait a minute you guys!" Tommy said, turning the camera away from them. "Maybe we've got it all wrong. I'm not jumping into any conclusions until I've got some solid eviden-," He glanced down at the camera. "And I just got it!"

He turned the video camera toward his friends once more. Gregor and the other girl were now kissing. And Tommy had caught it all on tape!

Danny's blood was boiling. "Just wait until I get my hands on that guy! I'll-, I'll-, I'll punch his lights out!"

Tommy ran up to Danny and put his hands on both of his shoulders. "Calm down, D!" he cried. "We've got other things to worry about before we take care of that egghead."

Danny took a deep breath, then sighed. "You're right, T! We've got to get everybody here! I can't defeat that thing on my own!"

Tommy nodded. "You've got it, Danny!" He turned to face the twins. "Phil and Lil, our lives are at stake! And that means the arguing, whatever you guys are arguing about, has to stop! It's time to make up! Now!"

The twins glanced at each other, sighed, then nodded.

"Look," Lil started, "I guess I've been kind of a show-off lately. I guess I liked getting all of the attention. And I love soccer now! I've never loved a sport this much before! And thanks to you, I made the team!" She sighed then said, "You've taught me all I needed to know about soccer, and I'm sorry I didn't acknowledge that earlier. I guess I got a little carried away!"

Phil nodded. "And I'm sorry I was being such a jerk earlier. I guess I was a little bit jealous of how great you are at soccer and wanted to be in the spotlight." He grinned. "Maybe you can help me with my kicking. I've been having troubles."

Lil smiled. "It's a deal."

They quickly hugged.

Danny smiled. "Great!" he exclaimed. "Now that you guys are getting along, let's stop at our friends houses. I'm going to need all the help I can get!"

* * *

**_ T_**ommy reached out and rang the doorbell to the first nearest house. He was nervous. What was he going to say? After all, he knew who would answer the door. His friend was inside watching his Friday evening cartoons in the family living room.

Before Tommy even got a chance to think, the door opened.

His friend sighed. "Oh, it's you. What do you want?" Chuckie was pretty cheery before he found out his ex best friend was outside the door. Now, he had his arms crossed over his chest, and was glaring at the floor.

Tommy sighed as well. "We need to talk."

"Nothing doing." Chuckie replied, shutting the door.

But Tommy put his hand on the door to stop him. "Please, Chuckie!" he pleaded. "Just give me five minutes to talk to you, and if you're not satisfied, I'll leave."

Chuckie hesitated, then asked, "You promise?"

His pal nodded.

"Okay. You've got five minutes _exactly_." He opened the door to let Tommy in.

Tommy stepped inside, then hesitated. How was he going to get his best friend to forgive him? Soon, Tommy came up with a solution. "Chuck, remember when we were babies, and you used to be scared of almost _everything_ you came in contact with?"

Chuckie nodded. "Yeah, so?"

"So, I was always there for you." his friend explained. "I was there with you for everything. The potty training, the clowns incident, Angelica, everything." Tommy sighed, then continued. "Then, I made you a promise. A promise to help you conquer this one shower fear you have. I promised you two-, no, three times and I never even attempted to help you once!"

Chuckie who was facing the opposite direction of Tommy, didn't look so angry anymore. He slowly turned around to face his friend.

"Look, Chuck." Tommy continued. "I'm sorry I didn't help you when you needed me the most! I'm sorry I got so caught up with Rachel that it seemed like I didn't even care that you existed! I love having a girlfriend, but if it's going to ruin the bond between me and my best friend, then maybe it's just not worth it." He turned toward the door, and started walking.

Just as Tommy grabbed the doorknob, Chuckie said, "She didn't ruin it."

Tommy quickly turned around to see his pal grinning at him.

Chuckie walked up to his best friend. "After I yelled at you, you come back and try to talk to me." He smiled even wider. "That takes guts, T."

"Yeah, well-,"

"Don't say anything, Tommy!" Chuckie interrupted. "I was being a jerk. I'm happy for you and Rachel! Really I am!" He was silent for a moment, then he said, "You know, I'm going to fall in love with a girl someday, and when I do, I _know_ you're going to be there for me just like I did with you." He paused, then added, "I guess I was just a bit jealous."

Tommy nodded. "So," he started, "does this mean we're friends again?"

"The best!" Chuckie exclaimed holding out his right hand.

Tommy grabbed Chuckie's right hand with his right hand, and shook it. Then he looked his pal in the eye and said, "Now that we're buddies again, Danny's got an emergency. He needs all of our friends involved in this!"

"Sure! Anything!"

"Okay," Tommy started, pulling his video camera out of his dark blue backpack, "here's the situation."

* * *

**_ "I_**'m really sorry I had to show you that. But you were going to have to find out about it sooner or later. Are you okay?"

Danny had just showed the video with the giant monster and Gregor to Sam. After all, Chuckie, Lil, Phil, Tommy, and all of their other friends didn't want to be the ones to break it to her. And don't get me wrong; Danny didn't want to do it either. But he figured it was the only way that he would be able to get Sam to talk to him again. Now he wished that he didn't show it to her at all.

Sam had tears in her eyes, but was trying her best to hold them back. "Does it _look_ like I'm okay?" she asked. She sniffed, then sighed. "What did I even do wrong?"

"You didn't do anything wrong!" Danny said softly. "If anybody did anything wrong, it was Gregor." He felt really sorrowful right then. He had rarely ever seen Sam cry before, and he wasn't sure if he was really doing anything to help at the moment.

A few minutes passed by, before Sam spoke again. "I can't believe I fell so hard for him like that." she mumbled. She glanced at her friend. "All Gregor is is a big user!" She paused, then said, "I should have listened to you, Danny. I'm sorry."

"Don't be." Danny sighed. "I guess I was being too overprotective as usual. It was wrong of me to spy on you guys on your date like that."

"Well I'm glad you did." Sam laughed. "That time anyway."

Danny grinned at her. "Yeah. I guess so. Anyway, I'm sorry."

"It's fine." Sam replied. "Just don't ever do that again!"

"Deal!"

They quickly hugged, then ran downstairs.

* * *

**_ "N_**ow, listen up!" Tommy cried. "There's a ghost monster coming to town, tonight! And no, it's not going to bring us presents like Santa Claus does. It's here to bring doom and destruction to Amity Park!"

Danny, Tommy, and all of their friends were in the Fenton Works Lab. The two pals had a stand with a map of AmityPark on it. Tommy held a long pointer stick, while Danny held a red marker.

"Now," Danny continued, "Tommy and I have come up with a clever plan to get the monster to stop moving so I can capture him in the Fenton Thermos. But I'm going to need all of your help to make this plan work."

"So," Tommy took up the conversation, "we need to split into four different teams. According to Tucker's tracking device on his PDA, the monster is heading here." He pointed to a certain spot on the map with his pointer stick. "This is the South end of AmityPark."

"So we should be setting up the trap here." Danny explained, circling the spot with his red marker. "This is the North end of AmityPark. We just need to steer the monster in the right direction. And this is how we're going to do it!"

Danny and Tommy took turns back and forth going over the plan with their friends, circling and pointing to spots here and there. Soon everyone was satisfied with where to go and what to do.

"Now who's with us?" Danny asked.

Everyone raised their hands.

"Good." Danny chuckled to himself. 'Why do I feel like I'm five years old all over again?' he thought.

* * *

**Author's Note: Just in case I don't get the chance to say this later, Happy Holidays everybody! :D**


	6. Chapter 6

**_ Chapter 6: The Big Fighting Scene _**

**_ "A_**re you guys ready?" Danny asked.

"Yep!"

"All clear!"

"Roger!"

"Good!" Danny exclaimed. "Now just stay low and out of the way until Tommy and I give you guys the signal! Sam and Tuck, be ready for whenever the monster comes!"

"We're all set!" Tucker replied.

"Copy. Over and out!"

Danny and Tommy were sitting in chairs in the op center on top of Fenton Works. The Fenton earphones, which they used to communicate, worked better up there than in the lab. So, Danny and Tommy set up base camp there. Plus, the monster would be too busy trying to destroy the city to pay any attention to a giant op center on a house roof.

"Are you sure this will work, D?" Tommy asked. "I mean, I've never stopped a giant ghost monster before!"

"It has to work T!" Danny replied. "I just _know_ it will work!"

"How can you be so sure?"

"Fenton instincts. Remember, Tommy?"

Tommy grinned. "Ah! The Fenton instincts have never failed us before!"

"Yeah, it-," Danny was cut off by a huge roar, booming noises, and shaking ground. "Tucker, Sam," he said, into the earphone's speaker, "you have company!"

"Roger!" Tucker exclaimed. "Sam, let's move!"

Danny and Tommy heard the sounds of motor scooters revving up on their Fenton earphones, and zooming away. They knew the monster had followed them because the booming was getting closer and closer, and louder and louder.

"Good work you guys!" Tommy exclaimed. "Chuck, have Tucker and Sam gone by yet?"

A minute passed before Chuckie answered. "Yep! The ghost monster is still following them! Should I call out to Phil?"

"Sure!" Tommy glanced out the window to his right. "But you'd better hurry! The monster is getting closer!"

Soon, the AmityPark citizens were waking up from the loud stomping of the monster's feet across the road. Some people were looking out their windows, some were standing outside the door, and some were even brave enough to get a view from the roof. And of course, when everyone saw what was causing all of the commotion, they screamed and ran back inside.

Suddenly, "Hey! Big, green, and gruesome! Over here!"

"Huh?" The monster turned around to see Phil waving his arms up and down to get its attention. He furrowed his eyebrows (Or whatever were his eyebrows anyway.) at the ten-year-old and started stomping toward him. Phil ran as fast as he could in the opposite direction.

Five minutes slowly passed, and Phil was starting to run out of breath. Luckily he spotted his twin sister with Kimi, Susie, Angelica, and Rachel all standing just a few feet from them. He ran up to them, breathing hard.

"Glad to see you could make it so quickly." Lil said, smiling.

"Just launch the soccer balls!" Phil cried. "It's getting closer!"

The girls quickly pushed out the cannons that they got from the lab. This cannon could launch out anything. Plasma, balls, apples, you name it! There was a full list of things to shoot out of it!

"Get ready…" Lil murmured.

The monster spotted them.

"Get set…"

It started charging toward them.

"Now!"

The girls pulled the triggers on their cannons, and soccer balls came flying toward the monster. It cringed and covered its face with its glowing, slimy green hands as they started flying toward its head.

Susie giggled. "Who knew shooting soccer balls at a giant monster would be so much fun?"

Angelica laughed. "You're telling me!" she exclaimed. "It kind of reminds me of my childhood days with Tommy and his friends when we were babies." She launched a soccer ball upside the monster's head. "Ha! Ha! Bulls-eye!"

Rachel grinned. "Actually," she stated, "I was going to say it kind of reminds me of how I got Sam to finally talk to Gregor."

As if right on que, Sam and Tucker showed up.

Sam grinned. "Hey, Lil! Hand me one of those soccer ball cannons!"

Lil gave her a puzzled look, then handed her one. "Okay. But this wasn't part of the plan!"

Her friend grinned mischievously. "I know. There's something I need to take care of first!" Sam turned to her right to see Gregor running up to her. She made a careful aim, then fired. The soccer ball hit him right in the middle of his face!

"That's for using me you jerk!" Sam yelled. "Tommy caught you kissing that girl on tape! We're through!"

Rachel laughed. "Knuckle touch!"

Sam tapped her fist to her cousin's, then they started shooting at the monster.

Then, something unplanned happened. The seven friends didn't know how it happened, but it did. The monster lost its balance! It kept slipping and sliding, so it needed to grab something. And that something happened to be the Fenton Works op center that Danny and Tommy were in!

"Oh no!" Kimi cried. "The op center! It's being pulled off!"

It was true. The monster had grabbed onto the op center too firmly, and it was pulled right off!

"Danny!" Sam yelled.

"Tommy!" Rachel screamed.

Meanwhile, Danny and Tommy were sliding all over the op center.

"Hey, Danny?"

"Yeah, Tommy?"

"Is the op center _supposed_ to be doing this?" Tommy asked, nervously.

"I don't know!" Danny panicked. "But somehow I don't think so!"

Both the monster and the op center came crashing down.

* * *

**_ T_**he whole group of friends (including the ones that weren't there during the scene, but had overheard what had happened through the Fenton earphones) rushed toward the op center. Were their two pals alright? What had become of them?

"Quick!" Phil cried. "Grab the Fenton Thermos! The monster's unconscious!"

It was true. The glowing, slimy, green monster was lying flat on its back in the middle of the road. It was breathing heavily.

Lil quickly ran to the op center to grab the Fenton Thermos. When she looked inside, she gasped.

"Are they okay?" Harold asked eagerly.

Lil turned to face her friends. "You guys!" she cried. "Danny and Tommy aren't in there!"

"What do you mean they're not in there?" Dil asked, running up to her with a puzzled look on his face.

"Take a look! I can't see them anywhere!"

Dil opened the door, stepped inside, and took a quick thorough search through the op center. His friends waited outside with eager anticipation.

Once Dil stepped outside, he exclaimed, "Well, I found the Fenton Thermos!" He handed it over to Lil. "But, she's right! I couldn't find my big brother or Danny anywhere!"

Susie glanced over at Kimi. "Where do you think they could've gone?"

Her friend shrugged.

Five minutes of silence passed as Lil sucked up the giant monster with an unpleasant look on her face.

Another five minutes of silence passed afterwards when a voice called out, "Hey, what did we miss?"

Everyone glanced up at the direction the voice was coming from. There was Danny holding onto Tommy by his waist. They were both beaming with pride and satisfaction.

But they weren't the only ones!

Everyone ran up to their two friends, shaking hands, hugging, and talking excitedly, saying stuff like, 'We thought you were goners man!' or 'I'm so glad you guys are safe!' and 'That was awesome! You guys are like the Great Houdini!'.

"How did you guys manage to escape like that?" Chuckie asked.

Tommy grinned at his best friend. "Simple!" he exclaimed. "Danny just turned intangible and flew us out of there before the op center fell to the ground!"

Their friends laughed. Because of their state of shock after the op center came crashing down, they had all forgotten that Danny could do that!

"Hey!" Phil cried. "How about we find ourselves one of those late night restaurants and grab ourselves a couple of milkshakes?"

"Awesome!"

"I'm so there!"

"Me too!"

"I'm in!"

The big group then were talking and laughing as they headed to the restaurant, like nothing unusual had happened. They figured that this was going to be their life from now on and they might as well enjoy it while they can!

* * *

**_ A_**ngelica had tears streaming down her face. It was her thirteenth birthday party, and no one that she invited except for Harold and Susie had shown up. They had all said they would come. An hour had passed since the party had started.

"Well," Harold said, trying to cheer Angelica up, "maybe they all just lost their invitations!"

Susie glanced at him with a serious look on her face. "I don't think so!"

That made Angelica weep even harder.

"Now, Angelica, don't cry!" Susie pleaded. "Maybe someone will show up soon! They just might've been all busy and couldn't show up the first hour!"

Angelica sniffed. "Yeah, right, Susie!" She sighed. "Thanks for trying to cheer me up, but no one, I mean _no one_ is showing up to this party!"

Suddenly, "Sorry we're late!"

Angelica glanced up. Danny was standing there with Tommy and their group of friends. All of them had gifts in their hands.

As they were setting them down on the present table, Angelica stared at them in shock. "Y-You-, You came to m-my p-party?" she stuttered. "After all the mean things I've said about you guys over the years? But why?"

Tommy smiled at his older cousin. "Let's put it this way." he started. "Even though we've had our ups and downs, and some more downs, and some more downs, and some more downs, and some mo-,"

"Tommy!" Chuckie warned.

"Right. Anyway," Tommy continued, "all of us here are family. And family never deserts a family member when he or she is needed the most!"

Angelica smiled. 'So this is what family really means!' she thought. Then she said, "Thanks, T!"

"No, prob, Ange!"

* * *

**_ A_**ngelica's party was a blast! Everyone was dancing, drinking punch, talking, and having a good time.

"So anyway," Tommy said, to Chuckie, "I said to Josh, dude is that your hair, or are you growing fur out of your head?"

Chuckie laughed. "That's great, T!" He paused, then said, "I'm glad that Josh is off my back now! Ever since I started showering in the locker rooms after tennis, he hasn't been picking on me!"

"That's great, Chuck!"

The two friends talked for awhile, then Rachel ran up to them. "Hey, boys! What's up?"

"Nothing really." Tommy replied. "Just chatting."

"I see." Rachel hesitated, then asked, "So, Tommy, do you want to get out on the dance floor?"

"Er-," Tommy glanced at his best friend.

Chuckie rolled his eyes and said, "Oh, go ahead, you lovebirds! I'll be over there getting some punch."

Tommy glanced over at snack table. Sam was standing there by herself, and getting a glass of strawberry punch. Tommy held his pal back. "Hold it, Chuck." He turned to Rachel. "There's something I have to take care of first. Wait here you guys!"

Tommy dashed to the snack table, past Sam. "Excuse me!"

Sam glanced at him, and laughed watching Tommy grab two large grapefruit. "Tommy, what are you-,"

"I owe you, remember?"

Sam gave him a puzzled look, watched him run off, and shrugged.

Tommy then ran up to Danny, who was talking to Phil. "Hey, Phil? Can I borrow Danny for awhile?"

Phil glanced down at the two grapefruit in both of his friend's hands and grinned. "Go ahead, dude!"

"Thanks!"

Tommy pulled Danny on the opposite side of the yard Sam was on, with Chuckie and Rachel watching him.

"What the heck does he think he's doing?" Chuckie asked, puzzled.

Rachel suddenly smiled. "I think _I_ know!"

Soon enough, Tommy threw one of the grapefruit, and it hit Sam in the back of the head. She whipped her head around just after Tommy had placed the other grapefruit into Danny's left hand.

"Danny did it!" Tommy exclaimed.

"TOMMY!" Danny yelled.

But Tommy didn't seem to hear him. "Good luck, D!" he cried.

Chuckie and Rachel burst out laughing, and ran off onto the dance floor with Tommy.

* * *

**_ "S_**o," Sam said, grinning at her friend, "Tommy used the fruit trick too, huh?"

"Fruit trick?" Danny asked, approaching the snack table. "I didn't even know there was such a thing."

"Rachel did the same thing to help me talk to Gregor."

"Ah, I see!"

Sam laughed.

"What's so funny?"

"It's like the same thing Gregor kept saying to me when we started talking. It was all 'Ah!' and 'I see!' just like you just did!"

Danny smirked. "Just remember I don't come with an accent."

Sam smiled. "I don't need an accent."

They smiled, and slowly leaned toward each other. The moment was soon broken when Rachel ran up to them. "Sam!"

Sam glanced at her cousin, a look of disappointment on her face. "What is it, Rachel?"

"My Mom just called!" Rachel cried. "She's in labor!"

"What?" Sam asked, with a surprised look on her face. "It's two weeks early!"

"I know! Come on! We have to get to the hospital!" Rachel raced down across the yard.

"I'll be right there!" Sam called. "Wait up!" She turned to Danny, and quickly kissed him on the cheek. "I'll catch you later, Danny! Goodnight!" She dashed toward her cousin, who was already on the other side of Angelica's wooden gate.

Danny raised his hand slowly up to his left cheek. "Wow!"

Tommy, Chuckie, Phil, and Tucker who had seen everything ran up to him.

"That was awesome, D!" Tommy exclaimed.

"Way to go!" Chuckie cried.

"Cool, dude!" Tucker said, slapping his pal on the back.

"Yeah!" Phil paused, then added, "Although, I'm really going to miss all of the teasing!"

Tommy and Chuckie nodded.

Tucker turned to face Danny. "Can we tease you one more time, just for the fun of it?" he asked.

Danny rolled his eyes. "If you must."

"Alright!" Phil exclaimed. "On the count of three! One! Two! Three!"

Just as Phil finished counting, the ground started shaking. The four boys glanced around, trying to figure out what was going on.

"What's happening?" Tucker asked, panic in his voice.

"It's an earthquake!" Chuckie cried. "Duck and cover!"

The four friends dove under the snack table covering their heads. Suddenly, bright, white light appeared blinding the boys for a second. Then everything went dark.

* * *

**_ "A_**hhhhhhhhhh!"

There was a loud crash, and everything stopped.

Danny opened his eyes. They were back in Tommy's backyard in the toy airplane.

Five-year-old Danny glanced over at Tommy, who had just now opened his eyes. "Wow!" he exclaimed. "That was fun! Let's goes again!"

He reached toward the switches, but Danny grabbed his arm.

"No, Tommy!" he exclaimed. "We're _not_ doing that again!" He glanced back at Chuckie and Sam who were still sitting in the back seat. "Are you guys alright?"

Chuckie sighed with relief. "Yeah. I'm fine!"

Sam grinned. "Never better!"

"What happened anyways?" Tommy asked, climbing out of the plane.

Danny sighed. "That's what I wanna know!"

Suddenly, another card popped out of the slot. Danny spotted it, quickly grabbed it, and glanced at it.

"What does it say, Danny?" Chuckie asked.

Danny slowly read the card to his friends. It said:

Thanks for Flying Forward into the future!

Everything should be back to normal now!

You shouldn't remember a thing!

Unfasten those seatbelts,

and exit on either side of the plane.

**** "Wait a minute!" Danny cried. "We went into the future? And we can't remember anything? What was the whole point of that scary plane ride if we can't we remember anything?"

Sam shrugged. "Beats me!"

Chuckie shook his head. "Don't looks at me!"

Tommy, who had been standing silently for a couple of minutes, suddenly grinned. "Hey you guys! This card thingy is also part of the game!"

His friends gave him a puzzled look.

"What do you mean, Tommy?" Chuckie asked.

"Chuckie," Tommy started, "we went into the footure! We did things no baby has ever done or seed afore! We did all the things that growed ups do! But, we can't members it because what if we'd members something that we didn't wants to members? We'd goes back and changes it!"

Sam smiled. "It makes enough sense to me!"

"I don't see anything wrongs with thats!" Chuckie exclaimed.

Danny nodded. "He does have a point!"

Suddenly, Didi Pickles walked outside. "Well!" she said, grinning. "It looks like you kids are having fun!"

"We sure are Mrs. Pickles!" Sam exclaimed. She smiled. "You look a lot better!"

Tommy's mom grinned. "That's just what I was coming to tell you kids about."

"What do you mean?" Danny asked.

"Well," Mrs. Pickles started, "as you all know I wasn't feeling well for the past few days. So, I went to the doctor and he asked me to take some tests."

"What kind of tests?" Sam asked.

"Tests that only grown up girls can take." Didi replied. "So, I took those tests, and I passed!"

"Passed what tests, Mrs. Pickles?" Danny questioned.

"The pregnancy test!" Tommy's mom exclaimed. "I'm pregnant!"

Danny and Sam shrieked with excitement, jumped up and down a few times, and ran up to hug Didi Pickles.

Chuckie and Tommy on the other hand were standing there, staring at their friends and Tommy's mom in puzzlement.

Didi laughed. "Okay!" she cried. "Okay! Settle down! I'll go inside and make some lunch, then I'll tell you the whole story."

Danny and Sam nodded. They were too excited to speak.

Once Didi was inside and out of earshot, Tommy asked, "Danny, what's going on?"

Danny turned to his playmate, and exclaimed, "Tommy, you're going to have a little brother or sister!"

"Wow!" Tommy cried. "Really?"

"Really!"

Tommy grinned excitedly. "Well, then, if giving up my binky is helping my new baby brother or sister, I'm going to do it."

"Wow." Danny exclaimed. "That's a pretty neat thing to do, Tommy."

"Yeah, well," Tommy said slyly, "I guess I'm just growing up."

Danny grinned.

"So," Tommy asked, "when is my little brother or sister coming?"

"In nine months."

"Wow!" Chuckie said, in amazement. "Is that a really long time?"

"It'll be awhile." Danny admitted. "I'll keep you updated now and then!"

"Okay! Come on, Tommy! Let's go celebrate by playing in the sandbox!"

Tommy laughed. "I'm right behind you, Chuckeroo!"

The two baby boys ran off laughing.

"So," Sam asked, turning to Danny, "do you think Tommy and Chuckie are going to be in the future together _now_?"

Danny quickly picked up Chuckie's magic ball out of the rounded holder on the inside of the toy airplane, and shook it to answer Sam's question. He waited eagerly for the answer. Soon, the tiny letters came up.

It said, 'Yes.'

Danny laughed, put his arm around Sam's shoulder, and said, "Sam, I think they're going to be just fine."

The two friends ran off toward the sandbox, to join the babies, not a care in the world about what lay in the future ahead.

_**To Be Continued…**_


End file.
